Naruto Uzumaki and the Dark Path of Shinobi
by kvsyaoran
Summary: Naruto has been keeping a secret to himself for the past seven years, the only persons he ever told were Iruka, and recently; Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune. What will become of his future when it becomes exposed?
1. Another Story

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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**Hi everybody! This is my first official fanfic that I'll probably post in my future. But this is also a HUGE disclaimer, I did NOT originally come up with this story concept. This is my own take in on the famous fanfic, Sealed Soul and Sealed Soul: The Guidance of Magic. I give full credit to kiralle for having come up with this idea.  
**

**When Darkest Melody had decided to drop the fanfic and offer it to someone else, I submitted a request to take it over. But unfortunately, I forgot to submit my email address and therefore, she couldn't contact me or give me the criteria. So I pretty much screwed my self over. But I really wanted to continue the story, so I decided, after months of consideration and school work to keep myself busy, I would create my own spin-off of the fanfic. I know many of you will probably be upset at me doing this but it's just my own version. Besides, who hasn't taken a similar concept of another fanfic before? Okay, I'm REALLY sorry if I offend anyone. I just really, _really_ want to write this story. I also don't want to upset any readers who come across this, I just want to have fun.**

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**Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

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Naruto Uzumaki was never a normal person. He had the Nine-Tailed Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed inside of him by the Yondiame Hokage, Minato Namikaze, when he was no more than a few minutes old. Since that day, he has faced a life full of misery and pain, both emotional and physical. He held such little faith in life at such an early age. His life was truly nothing short of a tragic tale.

But with time, and a lot of perseverance, Naruto grew up to be a very loyal, hyperactive, friendly thirteen year old shinobi, with a very big secret hiding just under the surface of his skin, and it wasn't the Kyuubi.

Recently, his supposed 'friend', Sasuke Uchiha, had just defected from Konohagakure no Sato to Orochimaru and Otogakure no Sato. He had abandoned his village and comrades for his hungry conquest to obtain enough power to kill his older brother, the infamous Itachi Uchiha. He desired and craved the power to finally avenge his fallen Uchiha clan above anything else. Sasuke had confronted Naruto at the hospital, when Naruto decided to visit Rock Lee after his surgery. He aggressively confronted him and demanded Naruto for information about Itachi. Sasuke had found out that Itachi was after Naruto and he wanted to know why. He wanted to know what Naruto knew about him and he wanted to know why Itachi was so interested in a dobe such as Naruto. But the blonde teen refused to divulge any information and Sasuke lashed out at him violently on the hospital rooftop.

Sometime after their short fight, Orochimaru's top agents, the Sound Five Team, found Sasuke alone in the village and gave him Orochimaru's invitation to come to his village and obtain power quickly. With such a golden opportunity presented before him, Sasuke packed all of his things and set off with the Sound Five in the night with little difficulty on his part.

Now, Naruto and a ragtag team of genin consisting of his friends Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi, Neji Hyuga, and led by newly appointed Chunin and good friend Shikamaru Nara. The team was sent out to retrieve Sasuke from the Sound Five Team by any means necessary. Eventually, they all faced off with each Sound Nin individually, separating the team, leaving only Naruto and Sasuke alone to face off for an eagerly anticipated fight against each other, at the famous Valley of the End, where the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha faced off almost a hundred years ago.

* * *

Naruto had tried to reach out to Sasuke, trying to convince him to return to the village. He warned him that it was a plot set up by Orochimaru to possess him and steal his Sharingan eyes from him. Sasuke insisted that he didn't care, and continued to fight Naruto brutally. Eventually Sasuke had made up his mind and decided to kill Naruto, and obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan, to advance to the same level of doujutsu as his older brother Itachi. Sasuke almost succeeded, when he thrust a Chidori into Naruto chest, piercing his right lung. Naruto retaliated by letting the Kyuubi within him possess him and lashed out at Sasuke viciously. He was now fully convinced that Sasuke had sunk to the lowest level at the moment he struck him down with that horrible jutsu. To Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke was now nothing more to him than a traitorous missing-nin.

Soon, Naruto pinned him down against the rocky surface of the north side of the river, to convince him of the mistake the Uchiha was making. But Sasuke retorted angrily at him.

"Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it? It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it? Huh? I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose all that?"

Naruto stopped Sasuke's continuous rant by punching him in the face, while he still held his shirt in his clenched fist

"You complete, _self-centered_, miserable _prat_! I would rather have _had_ a family and _lose_ it than have nothing at all! You _had_ a family, an enormous one at that! You were a well off, rich, police officer wannabe with a promising future that daddy would end up paying for you your whole life! Suddenly, they're gone and the first thing that pops in your head is vengeance, vengeance, vengeance! Haven't you once thought of what your family would want of you, instead of jumping to conclusions and hunting for power? Haven't you thought of moving on and starting a new clan? Having a family? No. Instead, you choose to act like nothing more than a spoiled child that was just denied his daily sweets from mummy! So stop this stupid suffering bullshit and MOVE ON!"

"SHUT UP! YOU NEVER HAD A REAL FAMILY! YOU NEVER DID!" Sasuke roared at Naruto before kicking him into the blond's stomach with both his feet . The air in Naruto's lungs flew out as he landed butt first then back being dragged across the water, a good distance of twenty feet. As he slid across the water getting to his feet while still sliding. He balanced one of the poles of wood in the water to stand up right with his chakra coded feet. Mirroring Sasuke doing the same, without being hit and sliding away. Naruto stood up straight on top of the pole, trying to force his breath to even out before speaking again.

"Me, not have a real family?" Naruto asked monetarily

He stared off into the distance past Sasuke, his eyes looking dull and tired in remembrance of the worst experiences he suffered in his life so far. The loneliness, the pain, the jealousy that swelled in his chest at seeing other children interacting and playing with their mother's and fathers, brothers and sisters. Reflecting on what he never got the privilege to have... How he craved for a family of his own. He wanted his mother, Kushina, to comfort him, tell him how much she loved him after a bad day at school or anything else otherwise. A father to look up to, to stand proud and strong, to inspire Naruto and to help ignite the flames of bravery in his son's heart.

But in the end, they never came to him... They were both taken away from Naruto and he was left with nothing but emptiness apart from the few actually cared about him...

That is until the other half of his soul awakened and rescued him from the impending darkness;

Harry Potter. His Nii-san.

He had filled Naruto's empty heart with the love he was denied, embodied the company he sought to have for himself. The man taught him everything he knew from the world around him to how to control his powers. He became both his mother, father, teacher, and friend. He had become his secret big brother.

Naruto snapped back into reality.

"You might be right on something, Sasuke. I never got to have a _real_ family as you have... My dad was killed in by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and my mother died a month after I was born, in the Konoha hospital explosion... I didn't get to know what it was like to have their love and company... But you're wrong about my lack of having a family and know what it's like... True, I wasn't blessed at the beginning, but I was gifted with a family as I grew up... The Sandaime Hokage took care of me when I was an infant, while he could, and he became my wise and loving Grandpa. Followed by my late pot-smoking friend Haya-Hayate Gekko (I believe you might know of him). Then arrived my older brother took care of me after him and Grandpa; Iruka-aniki... He saved my life and I will forever be in his dept. I love him so much, that I could literally burst from being in bosom of that unconditional love..."

Naruto paused with tears pricking at his eyes. He had chosen not to mention his Nii-san. Sasuke didn't have to know about him. He then smiled as he remembered the rest of his 'family'.

"Then came my dangerous and beautiful older sister Anko, my lonely, short-tempered aunt Tsunade, my weird, pervy uncle Jiraiya, and then my full of life and worry sister Shizune... They all became my family..."

Naruto smiling face turned more serious and his eyebrows began to furrow as he continued while, but Sasuke's face remaining the same monotone

"And if the day were to come, if any of them were to be killed-taken away from me, I wouldn't lose my mind and reasoning to vengeance as you have done already, Sasuke. If anything happened to the people I love, they would want me to move on, and not lose myself to a lust for power and become like some wild animal."

He averted his gaze from Sasuke, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat that began to regurgitate its way up. He snapped his head back towards Sasuke's face, looking directly into his blood red Sharingan eyes.

"You guys... Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, and you are also equally important to me, even if all of you did blow me off at least once since we met. Even if you and Sakura-chan ripped on me back in school and afterward when we became Team 7. And even if you guys hurt me on the inside all those times... You all became important to me and helped me through life as well. You've all motivated me to continue on with my journey. You guys are each very precious to me, we all have a bond that cannot be broken. We have the Will of Fire in our hearts! And I'm willing to do most anything to protect you all. Which is why I can't let you go to Orochimaru! SO STOP THIS POINTLESS FIGHT AND COME TO YOUR SENSES ALREADY!"

Sasuke looked slightly taken back at how much raw emotion Naruto put into his long-winded speech. If Rock Lee or Guy-sensei were here, they would be crying waterfall tears rivaling the actual waterfall crashing just behind Naruto.

But soon, Sasuke brought himself back to his old arrogant self once more, throwing aside everything he had heard his teammate tell him.

His eyes closed, "Hmph! The Will of Fire, huh? Since when were you ever the philosophic type of person?"

Naruto's face turned stoic and he stared at Sasuke blankly, "You'd be surprised, Sasuke... Really, you would..."

"If that's your case Mister Philosopher," Sasuke said while lifting his arms up, emphasizing his words, "I'll just have to sever that bond of yours, Naruto" he smirked, and reopened his closed eyes

Naruto's own eyes widened as he saw Sasuke's Sharingan begin to evolve. A brand new tomoe formed in each eye, it popped out and began to swirl around his tiny pupil in sync with the other two tomoe. Sasuke had finally completed his Sharingan Pinwheel Eyes.

'_Oh no... His Sharingan... it's been completed. How am I supposed to defeat him now?_'

Harry reached out and said, '_**Don't worry, Naruto. Keep level-headed and trust your shinobi instincts.**_'

'_Right now, my instincts are telling me that I'm screwed._'

Harry contemplated over this this, closing his eyes in thought, resting his index finger and thumb against his lips.

'_**What to do? What to do?**_' he pondered.

Harry hit his closed hand on his palm with eyes still closed, '_**It's time to use both of them.**_'

Naruto eyes widened even more in horror

'_Harry, no. I won't. I refuse._' he said firmly.

Harry tried to reason, '_**You have no choice, Little one.**_'

'_Yes I do! I can just use chakra! That alone can defeat him, right?_' Naruto tried to reason.

'_**You know that might not be enough. His eyes will detect your movements before you can enable them. He's at the same level as Kakashi, maybe even more now. Physical attacks won't be enough, but with the Kyuubi chakra. Add with magic can balance the fight out, and you'll have enough strength left to bring both of you back. You have to use both of them, I'll help keep you stable.**_'

Naruto yelled at Harry, '_NO! I can't! There must be another way!_'

'_**Do you want to keep your promise to Sakura or not, Naruto?**_' Harry retorted harshly, silencing his little brother.

Harry then sighed and closed his eyes, he knew all too well that this would probably be the very last thing Naruto wanted to resort to.

'_**Naruto, I know what you're worried about. The last thing I ever want you to do is to expose yourself. But who would actually believe that you're a wizard, let alone Sasuke saying that you are one?**_'

Naruto said, '_He's a clan heir and legally the Head of the Uchiha. Any person that has a boner for Sasuke-teme is going to believe him..._'

Harry the said, '_**You'll have to risk it... But, I'll figure something out later. I promise.**_'

Naruto hesitated for quite some time before finally giving in and sighed.

'_Fine, but you better keep me conscience, got it?_'

'_**Crystal. GO!**_'

Naruto leaped forward. The red fox chakra flowing in his veins, the only sign of it's usage was in his eyes. His eyes were crimson red, both his pupils were slits like a snake or feline. He strode diagonally with blinding speed. He strode left, right, left, right again toward Sasuke, leaving behind a jet blast of water in his wake. Sasuke countered by kicking up a long plank of wood, grasping the end closer to him and thrusting it at Naruto with all his arm strength.

The staff of wood burst into a roar of fire from an instant Fire-style jutsu he activated with his new found speed. Sasuke eye's refocused as he countered a hay maker thrown at him and flipped Naruto behind him prepared to parry. And Naruto lunged at him but Sasuke foresaw his attacks. Naruto displayed martial arts moves he saw him deliver against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, but he thought those were dreams not memories.

'_These moves,_' he thought, '_That fight in the forest! It wasn't a dream! But I thought it was! He spoke like he was from another country! He had green eyes! And performed such strange, otherworldly techniques!_' Sasuke realized as his memories finally resurfaced, Naruto having erased and replaced them almost three months ago.

'_I can see! His movements!_' Sasuke thought refocusing on Naruto's taijutsu blows, '_I can see the movements I couldn't catch before! It's like he's in slow motion now!_'

Naruto struggled as he shortly expected, he couldn't land a single blow, Sasuke parried and blocked ever punch and strike without effort. He retreated to the north wall of the chasm, attaching himself to the wall with his feet easily. Naruto sprinted up the wall with the same speed, his arms behind him in an attempt to increase his velocity. He saw Sasuke prepare his stance in a flash, and Naruto continuously threw various blows and kicks but to no avail, no of them met their target.

The only noises that prevailed for five minutes were the sounds Naruto's blows being blocked and redirected. Sasuke then advanced toward Naruto to test his newly acquired speed, punching him in the stomach once again, and then landing another hay maker to his right cheek. Launching Naruto off his feet and down the cliff side. He found his footing and landed upon the cliff again, his blonde hair looking brushed back with gravity pulling him backwards at this awkward position of combat. He stared at Sasuke with frustration and a slight tinge of fear. He stared directly into those menacing, smirking, hateful Sharingan eyes. Sasuke looked down upon Naruto in superiority.

'_This power. These eyes. I truly am the inheritor of the Sharingan!_' Sasuke thought with arrogance, clearly fascinated by his own finesse.

Naruto retreated into his mind for directions, '_Nii-san, what should I do?_' he asked

'_**First, shield your mind from Sasuke's influence. Don't worry about Kyuubi that's my job.' he interjected Naruto before he questioned his misdirection. 'Remember, empty your mind of all emotion. Next Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The final step: Unleash hell. You got it?**_'

Naruto nodded his head physically in understanding.

He looked at Sasuke, remembering Sakura's pleas, and the promise he made to her.

* * *

_Flashback_

"Naruto, I beg you! Please...p-please bring Sasuke-kun back, please!"

"Don't you worry Sakura-chan! I promise I'll bring him back or may God strike me down, right now!" Naruto then comically ducked with his arms covering his head protectively while looking up toward the sky his eyes wide and paranoid looking.

The others including Shikamaru, Lee, Kiba, Chouji, and Neji all laughed at Naruto's antic. Even Sakura broke a tiny smile at Naruto through her tears. Naruto returned his stance and turned more serious, giving Sakura a thumbs up,

"Don't worry. I'll bring him back. I promise you with my heart!"

_End Flashback_

* * *

"Well, Naruto, come at me. . ."

Naruto focused the Kyuubi's chakra into his feet and with ease and with new-found determination-Sakura's pleas were ringing in his ears-he sprinted even faster than before, blurring diagonally like before to gather his speed, Sasuke's eyes following him perfectly, waiting to counter his attacks and hopefully throw him down back into the river to continue pummeling him. Right when Naruto was directly facing Sasuke, Sasuke seeing Naruto 'before image' trying to punch him, prepared his arms to throw him. But then Sasuke felt a strange gust of wind, and could've swore he saw Naruto (or what appeared to look like him) being sucked into a tiny infixed spot, and instantaneously vanish with the swoosh and snap noise. Sasuke blanched in response and studied his eyes everywhere he could see in front of him when he heard a loud pop sound, and felt an extremely painful punch delivered to the back of his head, launching him face first into the river below and a hundred feet away from the cliffside. Sasuke hit against the water as if he had landed on concrete. He felt an extremely painful bruise swell on his head and tasted blood in his mouth. Sasuke was then bombarded with multiple punches into his stomach. Each punch felt laced with some painful, burning energy, but wasn't chakra. Sasuke recognized it,

'_This must be the same energy, Orochimaru was hit with by the dobe in the forest! Dammit! It stings like crazy! Wait! How did he do that?_'

The blows kept coming, and Naruto appeared to be hiding a long, thin, piece of wood up his sleeve. With every punch and haymaker he threw, he muttered a certain spell under his breath in the sound of a grunt, "_Stupefy!_"

'_**That's good, Naruto! Keep going!**_' Harry encouraged.

Although Naruto's spells were indeed aiming true, Harry was still worried; his little brother's Stunning Spells weren't working as well as they normally should. One of these spells worked perfectly on Kiba, during his and Naruto's Preliminary Chunin Exam match. But while go up against Sasuke, his spells only hurt Sasuke like a mad punch and slowed him down slightly. It must have been because of that stupid curse mark, they weren't working because the curse mark must have been giving Sasuke some level of resistance to Stunning Spells.

Naruto continued with the Stupefy-Punch technique, before Apparating again with a loud crack. He then threw multiple punches at Sasuke, all of them being painfully driven all over his body.

Sasuke finally regain his footing when Naruto Disapparated again, "I don't know how he's doing this vanishing act, but I'm gonna stop him _now_!"

He ignored the burning pains on his body and sped away a hundred feet to gain some distance. After focusing a large sum of chakra and flying through multiple handsigns (ending with the sign of the tiger), he breathed in and then,

"**Fire Style, Dragon Flame Jutsu!**"

Sasuke unleashed a massive firestorm from his mouth. The flames were so powerful that they literally turned the sky around the Valley dark, the light from the flames reflected red and orange off of the rocks and water. The firestorm engulfed everything five hundred feet away, including where he sensed where Naruto's chakra signature reappear.

Sasuke remained where he was, appreciating his destructive fire capabilities, and fairly confident he got Naruto. Suddenly, the flames died out, directly in front of Sasuke, two hundred feet away. There was Naruto, completely unharmed. He had both of his arms outstretched in front of him with his palms open. He held a long, thin piece of wood in his right hand, being held up by his thumb. The flames began to dissipate in front of the blonde and as soon as they fully disappeared, he quickly pocketed the wood piece, and sprint towards Sasuke again.

Beginning to grow even more frustrated and bloodthirsty, Sasuke threw himself at the blonde and feigned a double-knock out punch and instead grabbed his right arm and launched him with all the physical strength he could muster towards the north cliffside wall again. He reappeared with blinding speed and wrapped his legs and arms around Naruto, before the blonde could disappear again. Sasuke began to spin towards the rocks below as he copied the Lee's Primary Lotus technique,

"_It's already too late, Naruto!_" Sasuke screamed out at the top of his lungs.

'_**NO!**_'

Naruto's head smashed into the rock and a sickening crack was heard. The rocks shook with the sudden impact, and Sasuke stayed where he was with his eyes clenched shut. He slowly unraveled his arms and legs from around Naruto's body. The blonde teen remained as frozen as a statue for several moments before he fell and rolled into the river, leaving behind a glistening trail of blood behind before he fell into the river and let himself float motionless. The area of water that surrounded Naruto began to turn into a deep red color as more blood continued to seep from his body.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, his eyes wide in disbelief and shock at what he had done. He stood cautiously on the rocks and looked down where the blonde teen's head had been only moments ago. The copied Lotus Technique left a deep depression in the rock, and a small blood puddle laid in it's wake.

Naruto floated in the water facing the darkening heavens unknowingly. His eyes were closed, his arms and legs spread out and completely limply. But within his thirteen year old mind; the blonde laid down upon an enormous bed within a massive bedroom with no visible ceiling but instead reflecting the sky outside. Harry was seen sitting at the edge of the mattress and stroking his injured head with a green glowing hand. His eyes closed in concentration as the severe head injury began to heal at a rapid pace. He soon removed his hand and stood up gracefully before vanishing out the lone doorway. He reappeared inside of an infinite castle corridor lined with doorways and Hogwarts-styled stone torches. Harry walked down the corridor before he stumbled upon one particular door and phased right through it. He then approached a gigantic steel cage, containing the restless giant, nine-tailed fox itself. The enormous Kyuubi had multiple golden-glowing chains restraining it within it's cage, clearly aged and dulled from its original color due to the recent escape attempts made by the beast. The young wizard stood before it, studying the defenses he put in place thirteen years ago, they still held stable and strong. He looked directly into the fox's murderous eyes, with no fear in him own eyes, before he spoke to it.

Harry asked, "_**How about we make a deal?**_"

The Kyuubi let out a low and satisfied growl and answered, "**I'm listening..."**

* * *

{{_Inferi in the Firestorm by Nicholas Hooper_}}

Sasuke began to approach Naruto's body, when he noticed it suddenly began to glow once more. He stopped cautiously, seeing the red chakra from before come back to life and completely cloak the blonde. The chakra was different than before; it was much more fluorescent, and became more blood-red as apposed to orangish-red. Sasuke continued to approach warily. As soon as he took one more step, Naruto's body was raised by the chakra _itself_, seemingly at the navel. Naruto sprang back to life instantly, snapping his head forward and smashing his fist dead-center into Sasuke's unexpecting face. Sasuke was flipped back fifty feet away and landed on his side on top of the water, cupping his face in his hands and muffling his screams of pain. Naruto's closed, clawed fist shook with fury and soon he quickly placed his hands together and concentrated as much energy as could draw from his entire being.

A green of what appeared to look like the fox chakra formed around his arms and flailed around like tentacles. Soon, more of the green energy encircled and spiraled around Naruto, giving off an incredibly powerful sonic boom in all directions. Naruto's eyes also changed, morphing into a strange, spiraling mixture of green and crimson red.

Naruto Disapparated and reappeared two hundred feet away from Sasuke, as the Uchiha began to get up. The changed Naruto sprint towards him at impossible speeds. He reached the Uchiha instantly and began to encircle him, causing the water of the river to rise and surround the Uchiha in a vortex. Sasuke heard Naruto's voice in all directions shout,

"**Taju: Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**"

Multiple Narutos' began to shoot in and out of the vortex attempting to strike at Sasuke, but he continued to dodge with the advanced reflexes his upgraded Sharingan provided him. Naruto began to shout multiple uninterpretable words, and out of nowhere shots, jets, and blasts of multi-colored lights came into the vortex with every word Naruto yelled.

"_Stupefy!_"

"_Impedimenta!_"

"_INCARCEROUS!_"

"_Confringo!_"

More jets of light came out along with the multiple Narutos. Sasuke could've sworn he saw ropes come spinning out of nowhere towards him, but dodged them all the same. He couldn't figure out what techniques he was using. The Sharingan couldn't analyze any of them! Sasuke carefully calculated when he could leap out of the vortex without risking being hit by the water, projectiles of light, or any of the Narutos. When his opportunity came, he leapt to gain a fair amount of distance away from Naruto's vortex. He noticed the waters below his feet were completely out of control. Sasuke struggled to leap from wave to wave, before he finally reached the northern shore line, the side with the statue of Madara Uchiha, his great ancestor and founder of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke called upon his curse mark, demanding more power from it.

'_Give me more power!_' he roared, '_I WANT MORE! GIVE ME MORE!_'

The flames of the curse mark spread across his body much faster than before. But before he could continue the spreading, Sasuke was suddenly seized by-_claws of chakra!_ The claws had erupted from the earth beneath him, and soon an entire arm of red and green energy emerged from below. Naruto had thrown one of the tentacles of the cloak into the water, drove it into into the earth, and grasped the accursed Uchiha.

Naruto pulled the arm of energy toward him dragging the Uchiha with it, Naruto threw back his right arm as he and Sasuke sped towards each other. Sasuke yelled in protest and Naruto roared in fury as they were about to clash.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Sasuke went flying back and slammed into the stone foot of Madara Uchiha. The impact left Sasuke imbedded into the stone and a large crater surrounding him. He then fell and hit the ground, supporting himself with his hands and knees. Naruto retreated onto the foot of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Naruto's red chakra cloak suddenly sprouted a single tail consisting of solid, visible crimson chakra as the green energy began to disappear and retreat back into his skin.

Naruto began to breath as calmly as he could, in a futile attempt to draw the Kyuubi chakra back into him, the chakra was burning like never before and it practically tortured Naruto to keep holding onto it. That's when he heard Sasuke from the other side; laughing at him like some lunatic.

"I'm not even hurt, Naruto. It doesn't even hurt!"

Naruto looked up at the Uchiha, as he began to notice the curse mark spread even more that before. The red flames of the curse spread and thickened across his body, completely covering him in a blanket of red energy. Once it was complete, Sasuke's skin turned black and then dark grey. His hair grew long without changing it's overall style, and turned into a purplish gray color. His fingernails grew long and sharp, and appeared as if they were made out of glass. The whites in his eyes turned jet-black and the original black color of his eyes turned yellow before changing back into his Sharingan eyes. Blue venom lipstick seemed to appear on his lips as fangs grew out in his mouth. His appearance was both intimidating and completely repulsive.

"They call this place _The Valley of the End _for a reason. It's the turning point of destinies... Fitting, isn't it?"

Sasuke smirked at Naruto, and the blonde stood paralyzed, shocked by Sasuke's demonic appearance. He looked utterly terrifying to him. His disgust at his teammate grew even more when two demonic, sharply spiked, hand-like wings erupted from his back. Sasuke's smirk grew whence his level-two form was at last complete.

"I will admit, Naruto, you are equal to me now. I will admit you are special, however... **I am more special than you.**"

Sasuke froze and then grimaced as a massive wave of pain pulsed throughout his entire body. Just then he had just remembered what Sakon told him about holding the curse mark at level two for too long.

'_I don't have long,_' Sasuke thought to himself, '_I have to end this as fast as possible..._'

The Uchiha began forming a Chidori in his left hand without having to go through any of the required handsigns. Soon, the bright blue lightning turned gray in his hands with the power of the curse mark influencing the technique. Naruto formed a Rasengan in right hand, but had turned purple with the combination of his own chakra with the Kyuubi's. The two genin stared each other down with the most intense looks on their faces before they both felt that they had waited enough time and both decided to attack at the exact same time.

'**NOW!**'

They both leapt from their opposite ends of the waterfall. Naruto's chakra-boosted jump sent him soaring forward, whilst Sasuke's demonic wings enabled him to fly toward the Kyuubi-induced Naruto. As the two teens flew at each other, Sasuke suddenly had a cunning idea. Sasuke flapped his grotesque wings and gave himself a speed boost as he smirked to himself and resisted the urge to laugh out or snicker.

The two boys were about to clash for one final time, and Naruto began to yell.

"**RASEN-**"

But before Naruto could even finish yelling out the name of his jutsu, Sasuke instantly vanished and reappeared behind Naruto and his two sharp, hand-like wings stabbing Naruto in both of his shoulders. The sharp jagged ends of Sasuke's mutated skin sliced right through Naruto's flesh and bone and stuck out through the back of his shoulder blades. He slowly descended to the waters below while Naruto screamed and wailed in pain all the way down.

When Sasuke's feet met the water, he stood with his powerful version of Chidori still in hand. He twisted and morphed his wings disgustingly to make Naruto face him, shredding the flesh he had already pierced and crushed more bone. Sasuke stared directly into Naruto's red eyes which began to turn back into his normal and familiar color of sapphire blue. His demonic features disappeared, as did the chakra cloak and tail. His whisker mark almost fully receded and Naruto hung by at Sasuke's mercy, with the Uchiha smiling insanely at his 'friend'. Naruto's pierced shoulders barely allowed him to move his arms.

Everything began to grow dark and Harry's voice could no longer reach him at this point.

Naruto cried as he despaired to himself miserably, '_It's over... I'm going to die... but I promised... I promised Sakura-chan I wouldn't fail..._'

The Chidori sparked madly and chirped ceaselessly in Sasuke's hand as he reeled it back to strike for the kill. Sasuke smirked evilly as he licked his newly grown fangs and focused on aiming for Naruto's heart.

"**This time, I won't miss your heart, Naruto...**"

{{_The Dementors Converge by John Williams_}}_  
_

Naruto couldn't help but think of all the people he was about to let down with his approaching death; Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, all of his friends on this mission, Uncle Jiraiya, Aunt Tsunade, Shizune, Grandpa, and his big brother, Iruka. He might be with Harry on the trip to the afterlife, at least he would have his company on the way up. Hell, he might even get to meet his parents again or see Ron, Hermione, maybe even Ginny, Luna, and Neville. The idea of meeting all of those people almost made him feel a bit better about dying. But then the faces of all the people he already knew popped back into his head. His family, he would be leaving them all behind.

'_But all my friends... I'm never going to see them again... _'

He failed them all... but this can't be the end, it shouldn't. Naruto's memories flashed before his eyes; both good and bad recollections came into focus briefly. He remembered all the times he had tea with the Sandiame, the kindness and warmth of his fallen friend Hayate, and the hostility he faced from the villagers. He recalled when he first met Harry within his mindscape, he remembered the times the man told him bedtime stories. Harry had taught him so much in their time together. All those seven years of learning and practicing were about to go to waste. Whilst reflecting on what he ever learned from Harry, Naruto got a sudden idea.

He quickly looked down at Sasuke and he flicked his wrist with what little movement he could achieve, allowing his wand to fall out of his now loose sleeve. He caught it in his hand, clenched it in his hand tightly, and thought of the happiest things he could muster; When he first met his Nii-san, when he graduated from the Ninja Academy, Kakashi-sensei's comrade speech, Sakura's desperate pleas to him, and ended with Iruka telling him how much he love him, that he promised to always be there for him. Naruto breathed in with all his might, pointed his wand right in between Sasuke's eyes before roaring.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

* * *

Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy Ninja of Konoha sped through the trees as fast as his agile body could allow him. He was fright with panic, because just over an hour ago, he discovered that Sasuke had abandoned the village for Orochimaru, and that Naruto was one of the rookie ninja that was sent to retrieve him. When he found out, he ignored his assigned mission from the Sandiame Hokage in order to pursue his two students.

Kakashi continued his trek with his reliable ninja hound, Pakkun. They were tracking Naruto's and Sasuke's scents, to the direction to the Valley of the End. When they began to approach their destination, it began to pour down.

'_It's raining!_' Kakashi realized.

He turned to Pakkun and asked, "Will the rain wash away the scent?"

Pakkun responded with, "No problem. We're already close enough. This way!"

The pair emerged out of the trees and leapt down the cliffside from rock to rock and finally landed on the rocky shore line of the river. On the First Hokage's side of the river, Kakashi landed on one knee and scanned his eyes all over, looking for any sign of his students. Only to see right in front of him, Naruto, front facing the rocky ground and Sasuke, laying down on his back next to him. Sasuke had very minor burn marks and bruises all over his body, but there were two noticeable rips in the back of his blue Uchiha genin shirt. A bit of Sasuke's shirt hanging out at both sides to show that his shirt was indeed damaged.

Naruto, to both of their horrors, was completely drenched and stained in his own blood. Pakkun padded towards Sasuke and sat at his side to check if he was okay.

"Sasuke's still breathing. He'll be fine." he barked.

But Kakashi ignored his pug dog summon as he approached Naruto with heavy legs. He knelt down to the boy's side and heard him grunting. He was still conscious. Kakashi noticed that Naruto was trying to move himself with only his chin!

"I can't lose..." Naruto grunted, "I promised Sakura-chan-I can't give up_..._Get up-Get up!"

Kakashi quickly but carefully turned Naruto over to get him to stop hurting himself. But when he did turn his student over, he noiselessly gasped at the sight of the boy's body. He saw the two enormous stab wounds in both of his shoulder blades that were just barely healing themselves, with the help of the fox. Kakashi also noticed a hole in Naruto's orange and blue jacket. He looked underneath the shredded cloth to see a newly imprinted scar on his skin. This revealed exactly what Kakashi had feared would happen, and did.

"Sasuke used the Chidori on Naruto..." he whispered to himself quietly and then despaired, "_Why did I ever teach him that stupid jutsu?_"

Just as that was said, Naruto began to moan painfully as he tried to move his body desperately, "No! I have to stop him-Sakura-chan-I promised-_I promised_!"

Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's face and tried to calm him down, "It's alright, Naruto. You got him, he's right here. I'm taking you both back now."

As if he had obeyed his unspoken command like a loyal hound, Naruto collapsed, slipping into unconsciousness. Kakashi looked down at Naruto's face bloody and wet face, with nothing but guilt and sadness in his eyes.

He whispered, "... Naruto... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me..."

He then created a shadow clone and had it grab and carry Sasuke, before he turned to Pakkun, "Get to the Sandiame, inform him the mission success. Sasuke is secure. Make sure Hokage-sama gets the hospital ready for both of them."

Pakkun obeyed and ran ahead, back to the village. Kakashi had the shadow clone take Sasuke, and he himself carefully handled Naruto as if he were an active bomb, before both Kakashi's disappeared away into the trees back home.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**End of Chapter 1! Wow! I didn't think I could even do this!**

**Just a reminder: This is a TRIBUTE fanfic! I really, really wanted to write this!**

**I give 100% full credit to Darkest Melody, kiralle, and whoever is currently writing Sealed Soul. There's nothing more for me to say than I hope no one takes offense into me for writing this, I just really want to write and I really love this crossover concept. I just want to entertain, that's all.**


	2. Severed Bonds Part 1

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Hi! I'm back readers! I'm really sorry that I couldn't update sooner, my school is doing a musical. And I have been at rehearsal often. So I had little time to write, but worry not, THE STORY SHALL CONTINUE! I want to thank DarkRavie, Neko4, Ashley, Neko-Maniac, Azeroth44, and alma, thank you guys SO much, you guys were the first people to post their reviews, they brought me so much happiness and motivation reading them! Future reviews are more than welcome, if you like to point out something you would want me to do, just post it in your review and I'll consider it . . . And you'll receive acknowledgment for your suggestion if I chose to use it, or as I like to call it, A CYBER COOKIE!**

**And to point this out that this is a Sasuke and Sakura bash.**

**Well, without further a due, I present to you; Chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**

* * *

****Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

**All music used is credited when mentioned, none of which do I own**

* * *

Chapter 2: Severed Bonds Part 1

* * *

_Another Story by Nicholas Hooper_

Naruto tried to open his eyes and when he finally managed to do it, his sight was very blurry. His vision was split in two; between the confines of the master bedroom within his mindscape and the blurring mixture of trees and leaves. Naruto tried to stretch out his senses felt the familiar presence of his teacher, Kakashi. He felt his strong arms cradling him with the utmost gentleness, regardless of the intense speed at which they were moving.

Naruto forced himself out of his mind, and spoke hoarsely,"Kaka-sensei-"

Kakashi was surprised that Naruto had woken up.

"Naruto, don't strain yourself. Rest." He responded strictly with worried concern tugging at his heartstrings.

Naruto was still bleeding out badly, and barely managed to stay awake. Suddenly, several medical ninja came out of the trees and followed alongside with Kakashi.

"Kakashi-senpai," cried out one of the medics urgently, "how is Naruto Uzumaki's condition?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not good. He's bleeding badly and has two large stab wounds in his shoulders. I fear both his arms might be dislocated. He needs a hospital, right now!"

Naruto slipped away from reality once again, hearing the medic question something about Sasuke's condition but had blacked out before he could hear anything more. He then felt the familiar sense as if he were falling down before, landing on his enormous bed beside his Nii-san. Both of them had fallen asleep, exhausted from their battle together.

* * *

Sakura and her friend Ino Yamanaka both stood by the gates of Konoha with the other medical ninja prepared to tend to the injured genin and Shikamaru. Both girls ignored the drizzling rain that was falling down on their heads. Sakura was expecting to see Naruto return with Sasuke, as he had promised. Arms locked around each of their shoulders, both laughing at their earlier stupidity, pretending like that they hadn't even fought at all. But sadly, this was reality.

Sakura waited, eagerly awaiting to see a hint of raven or blonde hair. Her hands were clasped together almost in prayer as she stood next to Ino who had a mirrored expression. Only she was waiting for her teammates more than Sasuke. If he didn't show up after five minutes she'd go to the hospital and worry over Choji and Shikamaru.

Oblivious to both girls, another figure was hiding nearby. She stood behind one of the trees off to the side of the street, and was almost completely invisible in plain view. Hinata Hyuga had her Byakugan activated, while she scanned down the pathway out of the village. Her binocular vision couldn't detect a single chakra signature, let alone a familiar one.

She prayed to herself, '_Please, kami, please let Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun be safe. Please let them be okay._'

Hinata and the other girls suddenly noticed the medical teams had finally arrived with the Uchiha Retrieval squad, and were shocked as they brought the boys in. Choji looked as if he were emaciated, Neji had a hole in his left shoulder, Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee were being carried on stretchers to the hospital. Shikamaru was being supported by Temari from Sunagakure, with her brothers Gaara and Kankuro following behind her.

Ino forgot about waiting for Sasuke and went right after Choji. Sakura stood where she was. Not taking her eyes off the pathway.

A half hour later, the two Kakashi's had finally arrived at blinding speed. The Jounin's eyes were _locked_ onto the direction of the hospital. The jounin elite kept running, even though his legs were beginning to burn with the strain of running to and back from the Valley of the End. Sakura saw the Kakashi's running towards her direction. She saw the familiar wet mop of raven hair belonging to Sasuke, who was being carried by his shadow clone behind the real Kakashi. Sakura barely noticed Naruto, she was so distracted by her love. She called out to see Sasuke as Kakashi rushed right past her.

She yelled, "Sasuke-kun! Your back! Kakashi-sensei, put him-!"

"Not right now, Sakura!" Both Kakashi's said in unison as they ran towards the hospital, the medic nins following behind him.

Sakura was thrown by her teacher's urgent dismissal, but was silenced when she caught a brief glance of Sasuke's face. She noticed the burn marks on his skin, and how torn and ripped his clothes were. And yet, she hardly noticed the blood-drenched form of her loyal and loving teammate, Naruto.

She regained her stance and ran toward the hospital but very far behind Kakashi and the medical team.

Hinata on the other hand, fully took in Naruto's bloody figure with a single glance. Her advanced eyesight allowed her to see Naruto perfectly despite how fast Kakashi had blurred away. In horror, she then rushed as fast as she could toward the hospital, worried sick for her crush and her teammate as well.

* * *

Naruto lay upon the familiar grand bed in Harry's room. The bed's thick covers kept his body warm and comfortable. But even though he seemed comfortable, a nightmare plagued him like a disease. He began to stir in his sleep as he saw Sasuke's demonic face starring up at him with piercing, evil, Sharingan eyes. He heard the sound of a thousand chirping birds ringing in his ears as clear to him as were nails to a chalkboard. Sasuke smirked up at his face, revealing his sharp fangs and licked them hungrily, he yelled out and his left hand, filled with demonic lightning, thrusted at him at the speeds too fast to follow.

Naruto would have screamed awake, but he felt a warm hand rest upon his forehead. His nightmare began to fade away, and Harry's room, although blurry, grew into focus. Naruto's fast-paced breath began to slow down to normal, and beads of sweat over his body began to disappear at Harry's touch. As Naruto's vision finally cleared up, he looked into Harry's face and smiled. Harry planted himself on a chair next to the bed. He too was still very tired from earlier.

"That was quite the fight, eh, Little one?" the older man smiled back.

Naruto's smile faded and quickly turned into a face full of panic and fright.

"The fight! I passed out! Sasuke-we can still stop him! Throw me back out, I have to keep my promise! There's still ti-"

"Shhh!" Harry silenced and Naruto froze, "Calm yourself, Little one. You defeated him. Everything is alright, now."

_Little Alice by Danny Elfman_

Naruto reluctantly sank back into the bed, he was almost on the verge of jumping out and hopefully, to him, wake up. Harry leaned towards his little brother and cupped his cheek with his hand, just like he did when he was _really _little, to keep him quiet. He looked into Naruto's worried eyes with is own, now slightly serious, green ones.

"You've been really injured, Naruto." he said with seriousness, "In case you've forgotten, Sasuke stabbed his 'wings' into both of your shoulders, nearly ripping your arms off. You would've been just two limbs away from becoming the Black Knight of Camelot."

Naruto laughed, but soon cringed at the sharp pain wave that surged through both of his arms, "Ouch!"

Harry frowned and reached his hands over Naruto's shoulders to perform a healing charm. He never liked it when Naruto was in any pain, but wasn't all around surprised that Naruto could feel the pain here.

"Yeah, that'll happen for a while," Harry began to rub both of Naruto's shoulders as the boy sat against his pillows, his hands glowing green with magic. "Apparently, the damage was so tremendous, that you can still feel a fraction of it within here. But with my medical charms, I can reduce the pain for awhile."

"Thanks," Naruto said, "How long have I been unconscious, Nii-san?"

Harry's eyes did not look away from his work on Naruto's injuries.

"For almost three days. You haven't had any visitors. But don't worry," Harry included casually, "you're not allowed visitors yet. The medics and doctors are still sealing your wounds as we speak. So don't worry, okay?"

Naruto nodded, looking down as he did, shadowing his eyes away from Harry. The superior wizard noticed the obvious facial gesture, and looked at Naruto in the eye before focusing back on Naruto's shoulders.

"What's the matter, Naru-chan?" he asked calmly.

Naruto sat there, hesitant to speak, while Harry waited patiently and massaged his shoulders still.

"...The others...what happened to them...? Are they okay? They're not-"

"They're all just fine." Harry smiled, "I focused on listening in on the medics while they were operating on you. Wasn't easy. Shikamaru only had a broken finger and a few scratches, Kiba was only a little worse than the Nara kid, but was still pretty bad along with Akamaru. Lee was just bruised up and sore. And to my surprise, the genin team from Suna arrived to help those three. As for Choji and Neji, they barely survived, but they're alive from what I've heard."

Naruto sighed in the relief that his friends were safe, and relaxed as Harry had finished his healing charm and laid him back into his bed. The blonde slowly sank deeper into mattresses' confines, and felt overwhelmingly tired. He closed his eyes slowly closed shut as he sank into more pleasant and happy dreams of playing Quidditch, fishing, and other healthy activities.

Harry watched Naruto as he slept for awhile, but soon left the bedside chair and sat back down into his red, squashy armchair. He began to contemplate on what to do if Sasuke decided to say anything about his little brother. With what little time they had to act, before the treacherous Uchiha would wake up.

* * *

Sakura Haruno woke up with a start that morning, and jumped out of her bed. She quickly ran for the bathroom to take a shower and tend to her morning cleansing rituals. She re-entered her bedroom with several linen towels wrapped around her. She unveiled herself and put on her undergarments and put on her freshly washed red kunoichi dress. To anyone else, this dress looked like any other of the many dresses she owned. But to her; it was _the_ dress. The dress she was going to wear when she reunites with her beloved Sasuke-kun.

Sakura stood before her full-frame mirror, admiring her bright, florescent red and white reflection.

'_Don't you worry Sasuke-kun, I'm coming to brighten the darkness in your life!_' she thought with a giggle of excitement.

She had not been allowed to visit Sasuke at all for the past three days. Most likely due to the fact that he was still being tended to by the finest hospital physicians (minus Lady Tsunade). And would not allow anyone to disturb them until their care for the Uchiha was declared finished. As if to refer to Sasuke as some kind of a project. Although after, Sasuke treatment was finished two ANBU guards stood outside his hospital room, preventing anyone from entering. Sakura hadn't seen Ino waiting outside of Sasuke's room once for the past three days as she expected her to do with her. Instead Sakura found her friend outside of Choji's room, worried sick. On the first day, she remembered, she saw Ino crying on Chouza's shoulder, while Choji's father tried his best to reassure her that his son's condition wasn't her fault. Sakura then thought it wise to leave her friend to worry for her teammate.

Sakura refocused her turbulent thoughts on the might-be bright side of her day. She leapt down the stairs of her large house, and speed for the kitchen to grab a slice of toast and retrieve the container of chilled, sliced apples for Sasuke, and the container of fishcake cubes she bought in the supermarket yesterday. She also grabbed the wrapped daffodil flower she purchased from Ino's family's flower shop when she bought the treats. Sakura's parents were not at home again today. Sakura's parents were on the Konoha civilian council, and recently have been extensively busy ever since the retrieval mission. But when Sakura really thought about it, her parents were barely around to concern her and her own needs and troubles. Usually, Ino was the one who helped her through most of her childhood. Her parents were almost always concerning themselves with planning more meetings to present to the council. And would return home later each day with either malicious grins or disappointed and enraged faces.

Sakura decided to brush the thought away as she wrapped the food in two tiny bento boxes, and left for the door, and to the hospital she walked.

* * *

Naruto finally awoke on the fourth day after the retrieval mission. He found himself inside the familiar white colored hospital, and sat upon a standard bed, which paled in comparison to his velvet draped bed in Harry's room. Upon fully waking up, he instantly wished he could go back to sleep. He felt an intense surge of pain surge through his arms again, more pressingly painful than what he felt in Harry's chambers. When he said it would hurt, he was telling the truth. But Naruto's arms weren't the only sore part of his body; his legs were sore from overexerting them, while his torso and face also hurt intensely from the multiple punches he received, courtesy of Sasuke Uchiha.

Said traitor, was the reason Naruto had been woken up. Harry advised him hours earlier on their current situation: Sasuke saw Naruto perform magic, and a lot of it.

Naruto had panicked when Harry reminded him, and Naruto immediately suggested using a Memory Charm to wipe Sasuke's memory of the fight. But Harry strictly had him disregard the idea. Naruto wasn't adept in Charms of _that_ level yet. He would still need to be instructed through the whole procedure. Besides, instead of successfully wiping Sasuke's memory, possibly replacing it with a false one in it's place, Naruto could accidentally destroy Sasuke's complete and unstable mind, since Naruto was still very weak. When Sasuke was given a memory wipe before, it was in the Forest of Death, when Harry had taken over Naruto's body to fend off Orochimaru. Harry was more experienced with advanced charms and in order to perform a Memory Charm, he would have to possess Naruto again and _that_ could risk Naruto's life with what little chakra and magic he had left in his almost fully flushed system to stabilize his body.

Naruto comically suggested that he could hit Sasuke's head a couple of times to force his memory gone by conventional ways. Harry bopped him on the head as a response, and the idea was dropped. Besides, they would probably get caught doing that.

Naruto came up with the only conclusion that could be compromised; he would have to confront Sasuke directly and persuade him into secrecy.

This was a clearly stupid idea. But what else could he do without accidentally killing himself or permanently damaging Sasuke's cranium, no matter how much he wanted to do so?

After some time, Naruto's mind was made up; he _carefully_ made his way out of his hospital bed without simply hopping right off. At first he felt relieved to be free of the mattress's cheap springy design, but soon felt like screaming in pain as his bare feet were securely planted on the ice cold floor. His sore legs felt inflamed under his own weight, and his legs began to buckle and twitch in pain.

'_YOUCH! Nii-san! I thought you said you were going to numb out the pain in my body!_' Naruto yelled.

Harry winced for the umpteenth time in his life from Naruto's loud voice, making him question _yet again_ what the mental equivalent for lung capacity was in here.

'**_Hey, don't get mad at me! I said I would numb out the pain in your shoulders, not in your legs, Little one._**'

Harry smirked while Naruto responded with loud thoughts of random, nonsense, uninterpretable swear words and insults.

'_**Besides, you wouldn't be moving them at all without all the energy I'm putting into them now. Your legs will hold out fine. Now stop complaining, and get a move on.**_'

_Doors_ & _Drink Me by Danny Elfman_

Naruto pulled himself straight up, using his bed for support. Naruto's legs felt loose and stringy with every move that he made. Forcing his leg to tighten and regain a stance, Naruto walked around the room a little bit so his legs could adjust to the stress. Naruto looked for his clothes, which happened to have been laid across from his bed. He searched the clothes and found his wand hidden deep within the torso area inside his infamous orange jumpsuit. He also searched the back pocket and found one smoke bomb left, one that wasn't destroyed in the fight with Sasuke when he tossed Naruto's weapons pouch. The blonde teen gripped his wand firmly in his right hand, ready to search for Sasuke's room.

Naruto carefully made his way to the door of the room and slowly opened it a crack. He peeked outside and saw one or two doctors or nurses walking down the hallway, collecting and replacing patient charts outside other doors. He waited until he was sure that no one would see him, and slid his door open hard and dashed into a nearby storage closet right when his door slid closed again.

He stopped to rub his legs, trying to ignore the agonizing pain in them, as he looked out into the hallway. Once the coast was clear, Naruto made his move down the hallway to the one of the nurse tables and hid underneath the table. Naruto made sure he kept out of view as he heard several nurses come to the desk to work. Naruto would wait until they left before he would check the charts or any information regarding Sasuke's room. Whilst waiting, he decided to overhear what the nursing staff was saying, in hopes that they would mention Sasuke.

"Ugh, I can't believe I have that Uzumaki brat to tend to again!" one of them complained.

"Oh, get over it. He's still unconscious, it's not like he's a struggle." the other laughed.

"That's not the point! I just hate being in the same _room_ with that demon!" the complainer hissed.

"I know. It unnerves me too. You never know when he'll _strike_! But we just have to grit our teeth and get his treatment done and over with."

"I'll give him a sedative to keep him quiet for a while."

"_No_! If Lady Tsunade finds out, we'll get fired or worse! You know how much she's taken a liking to that _brat_. Just give him her medicine formula, and no one gets hurt."

"Fine. I'll get him in an hour. Let me just finish my form for Uchiha-sama, and we'll go to lunch."

While Naruto was listening in, he couldn't resist flicking both nurses off repeatedly from under the desk. Naruto's ears had perked when he heard the name 'Uchiha' said out loud. If Naruto can get that report, it would have Sasuke's information on it, including his room number and location.

Naruto waited impatiently for those stupid nurses to leave, '_Jeez, how long does it take to fill out a form?_'

'_**Patience, Naruto. Patience...**_' Harry advised.

'_I'm trying! I'm trying, Nii-san!_' Naruto hissed back.

Harry growled at Naruto, '_**Hey! Watch your tone, young man!**_'

Naruto flinched at Harry's authoritative scolding and silenced himself immediately. Once the nurses had left to attend to other patients, Naruto quickly stood up and found Sasuke's chart on top of several other folders. He flipped through it quickly looking for the room he was being held in. He spotted it on the upper right hand corner;

**Uchiha, Sasuke. Tower Room: 466. ANBU Guards. Authorization Required. **

'_Bloody he- Of course he's guarded! Of course he is!_' Naruto thought frustratingly.

'_**Remarkable that a vegetable child would need security 'round the clock in a grand hospital room. Those rooms are for people how actually **_**need**_** severe care.**_' Harry said with equal frustration, '_**Keep going Naruto, you can incapacitate the guards there.**_'

'_What d'you mean?_' Naruto asked.

Harry advised, '_**Just get up to the east wing tower, no problem.**_'

'_No. What does incapacitate mean?_' Naruto asked, confusedly.

'_**Use your imagination!**_'

Naruto smirked, '_Now look whose snapping._'

Harry scowled, '**_I'm your brother. That's my birthright... Or soul-right... Besides, you really need to improve on your vocabulary._**'

Naruto went on about smart-ass bothers and troublesome big words.

He then made his way to the south west end of the hospital, to locate Sasuke's room, which coincidentally, was the same room he was put in after his Preliminary match just several months ago. Hopefully they should have that broken window replaced by now. At least it would be harder for Sasuke to try and escape by window-jumping methods.

Naruto sped from supply closet to supply closet, he disappeared behind doors and ducked beneath desks to get to the south west tower room, and in between every stop he rested his legs. He finally came to the bending hallway on the top floor of the southwest wing, when he noticed, as the chart from earlier proved positive; two ANBU ninja stood outside Room 466.

Naruto cursed noiselessly. He was really hoping he would not have to use magic on anyone. But in order to get through that door two people would have to be jinxed today. Naruto got in close by the edge of the curving hallway, and carefully aimed his wand at both guards.

He then muttered, "_Confundo!" _

A bright flash of blue light and both ANBU faltered slightly, looking less upright and alert. Naruto came out of the corner into full view in front of the ANBU, and walked causally as he could, despite the pulsing pain pumping through his legs.

"Hello, gents!" Naruto called with a confidant smile on his face as he approached the Confunded guards.

Both ANBU continuously scratched their heads, clearly in confusion.

"Huh?" both of them asked in unison.

Naruto stopped before them, "You guys were just about to let me through, were you not?" he asked with a positive voice.

Both ANBU looked at each other in question, "We were?"

"Of course! You guys were going to let me through to visit Sasuke. I am the King of Wrackspurts after all, I have an appointment to see Sasuke Uchiha right now. The Hokage and Council sends you their regards. Now if you'll excuse me."

Naruto said waving the back of his right hand arrogantly, pretending to act like royalty. Both ANBU guards immediately stood aside to allow the blonde access into the room as if he were the Daimyo.

"So sorry to get in your way, young lord!" They said in unison together once more, this time with less confusion and more respect.

Harry chided, '_**You always tend to make yourself seem more important, when you Confund someone, don't you, Little one?**_'

'_Why the tone of surprise, Harry?_' Naruto smiled.

He turned the door handle, then his facial expression turned serious as he opened the door to his 'teammate'.

* * *

_Farewell to Dobby by Alexandre Desplat_

Kakashi stood before the Hero's Memorial Stone, beneath the darkening stormy sky. As he did everyday for over thirteen years. To pay his respects to his beloved friends; Obito, his best friend, Rin, his treasured beauty, and Minato-sensei, the man who taught him and helped him in the darkest times of his early shinobi career.

Oh, how Kakashi craved to have so much as a minute with his deceased family of a team. With the formation of Team 7, he hoped to duplicate his old Genin team, and ensure that it wouldn't fall apart as his did. And for awhile, he thought he managed to succeed. Naruto and Sasuke argued just as Kakashi and Obito did, Sakura admired Sasuke, just like Rin admired at Kakashi. And Kakashi was the referee to make peace between them, and teach them equally and teamwork, just as Minato-sensei did. But alas, fate would not allow such a thing to be done.

'_How could I have been such an idiot?_'

He stopped his eyes at one name aside from Obito Uchiha. The man he looked up to, the man _he_ admired and grew to love as second father; Minato Namikaze.

'_Sensei, I have failed you... I had no chance of guiding and leading a team as you did... I put one student's training above the rest... You never did that to any of us. You never gave someone else any 'special attention'...You always believed that everyone deserves a fair share of everything. No indeficiency and no excess... You always said that teamwork was the most important thing for when it comes to completing a mission. Maintaining a team requires that too; you must set aside all differences to fulfill the greater good of all... I have failed miserably, and as a result, one of my students was nearly killed by someone who was supposed to be his teammate and friend... Please forgive me for my foolishness, Minato-sensei, please forgive me, yufu-san..._'

Kakashi's eyes glanced back to Obito's name. He closed his eyes in anguish, as he spoke aloud as if he were in front of him,

"Obito... I'm sorry, but this is probably the only time I will ever say this... But I'm glad you didn't live to this day... I'm relieved that you didn't live to see your clan's dignity sunk so low... Your nephew, Sasuke, has now thrown away any greatness that the name Uchiha ever had, that you put into it in my eyes... He tarnished the dignity and respect you brought out of it, and certainly any respect from me... I tried to convince your nephew Sasuke to follow the ways you taught me and what I learned, but he did not see comrades as important as you and sensei believed they were, as I know they are... Instead, your nephew used them as scapegoats in the end, as bags of trash that would serve him a purpose and would toss aside when he found no more use for them. He's disgraced you and everything you lived for... Forgive me, for I have failed you yet again..."

Kakashi concluded his prayer as he stood up.

'_And please forgive me for what I'm about to do to the 'last Uchiha', Obito._' he thought as he turned away to face in the direction of the village.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**That's Part 1, and Part 2 is coming up soon!**

**Read and Review, Please!**


	3. Severed Bonds Part 2

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Here we go, folks! Chapter 3! Enjoy!**

**

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

Chapter 3: Severed Bonds Part 2

* * *

Naruto opened the door and closed it quickly before tapping the handle with his wand and whispering, "_Colloportus_!"

The door clicked, signaling the guaranteed security of the room.

Naruto turned around slowly to look at the bed across the hospital room. On the bed there sat Sasuke, who was being restraint to the bed with leather braces and wore multiple bracelets and necklaces that gave a faint blue glow with several letters in kanji written on them. They were clearly chakra-restraints that prevented him from using his chakra or jutsu to escape from his bed and/or hospital room. Sasuke was fully awake, and he obviously hadn't been moved from this very spot since he got here: he hadn't been taking proper care of himself, even though the physicians were giving him their utmost care. Sasuke clearly hadn't bathed once, his usually sleek and neat black hair was greasier than before, and there were purplish bruise-like marks below his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping much since their battle at the Valley of the End. Sasuke looked at Naruto sharply, alerted by the noise of someone entering and recognized the blonde head of hair instantly. He clenched his teeth almost to the point of shattering. He seethed as his eyebrows furrowed with the most intense anger he ever felt, rivaling his hatred for Itachi.

"You!" Sasuke growled at him.

Naruto looked at his one-time friend emotionlessly, but he couldn't help but feel a ting of regret, for not preventing this and quickly refocused his face into an expressionless mask as he walked toward Sasuke.

"Yes, it's me, Sasuke." he said monotonically,

"Get the _hell_ away from me, you energy-shooting FREAK!" he snarled at the approaching Naruto.

"Sasuke, please. I have to talk to you." Naruto said with a slight sense of alarm with the harsh tone of voice Sasuke had just thrown at him.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

Naruto stopped a foot away from Sasuke's bed and continued to stare at him without any emotion whatsoever. He glanced down to look down at his hospital pajamas and only now realizing that he was even wearing them. He looked back into Sasuke's furious pitch black eyes before adopting an intense tone in his own voice.

"Sasuke, don't tell anyone what you saw me do." he stated simply.

Sasuke blinked in response to this demand.

"What?" he questioned angrily.

"You heard me Sasuke." Naruto stated again, "I'm sure you're all too familiar with the green and red energy I used against you and the silver fox/lion hybrid I had attack you?"

Sasuke's twitched in remembrance of the pure white animal clawed at his body and sunk is teeth into the part of his neck where his curse mark was. The animal frightened him and burned the skin off his level-two curse mark form. The Patronus Charm's pure powerful light had practically blinded him and made his skin feel as if it were on fire as if tried to rip the flesh off of Sasuke body.

Sasuke reluctantly nodded his head and shivered in remembrance.

Naruto said, "Don't you dare tell anyone about those things. Do you understand?"

Sasuke starred at Naruto with that all familiar hatred etched into his face, "Why shouldn't I?"

"Do you not realize what people would do to me, if they knew I could use forbidden techniques like what you saw a few days ago? The council would have me killed or tested on like some lab rat."

Sasuke's eyed widened as he listened to Naruto, but his expression changed into a sinister smirk,"If it'll come to that, then I'm telling them everything."

Harry smacked his face, '**_Wow...__You have derailed._**'

Naruto growled at Harry, '_Shut it. I do have one plan up my sleeve. Thank you for interpreting the lettering on the Uchiha shrine for me._'

Naruto looked at Sasuke right in the eye and he threatened with malice, "If you tell anyone, I will never let you be able to obtain your precious Mangekyo Sharingan. Seeing as you want me killed so badly."

Sasuke's eye's widened again in total surprise. Nobody could possibly know anything about the Mangekyo Sharingan apart from himself, Itachi, or anybody else who could wield at least a pair of two tomoe Sharingan eyes.

"How do you know about that?" he demanded quietly.

"I know a lot about the Sharingan, Sasuke. You can learn a lot by studying a complex mural long enough, you know." he responded smartly,

Sasuke sneered at Naruto, "You went into my clan's private shrine?"

Naruto growled back at him, "I only went in there back during the Chunin Exams, and it was by mistake. I stumbled upon it when I was busy looking for you and Kakashi-sensei, you prick."

Sasuke soon went back to his normal brow-furrowed face and asked, "What makes you think that you can stop me from obtaining the Mangekyo?"

"You can forget about me being your friend. How about that?" he asked.

Sasuke paused before he growled angrily yet again.

'_Dammit. If he's not my best friend then I can't kill him to obtain Itachi's power..._'

Sasuke growled again but then he stopped once he realized something, '_No! Wait a minute! It doesn't matter what __the dobe__ thinks about our friendship, so long as _I_ consider him my friend then I can still get that power when I kill him._'

He smirked, "Your full of it, dobe. I can still obtain the Mangekyo if I still think of you as my closest friend. And considering that you would be so secretive about these 'forbidden arts' of yours, then I'd consider this as a little friend to friend talk, wouldn't you?"

Naruto's expression went from surprise to defeated, having now lost his advantage. Sasuke continued with a nefarious smile stretched on his face.

"While we're on your 'forbidden arts', I'll let the entire council know of what I saw. I'll make sure to watch whatever punishment they inflict upon you. Hell! I'll even request if _I_ can do the job for them, since I'm guaranteed a hall pass for my previous behavior. I'd be providing community service _and_ have fun at the same time!"

Naruto clenched his fist tightly and then slammed it into the wall right next to him, cracking it as he did. But immediately after he did so, he tried his best to ignore the _enormous_ amount of pain he felt blazing in his arm.

"YOUR AN ABSOLUTE CHILD!" he yelled at Sasuke, like a furious parent.

This unexpected raise of Naruto's voice made Sasuke feel somewhat frightened at him. Actually, the expression on Naruto's face vaguely reminded Sasuke of his mother when she was angry at him for misbehaving occasionally The feeling of Naruto's anger emphasized when the lights in the room began to flicker and a breeze flew through the room even though there wasn't a single window or door opened.

"Instead of _bitching_ like you're still an immature Academy student threatening to play tattle tale, then... then how about I make a deal with you? So that way, you can still get a huge fraction of your fame, superiority, or whatever you want and I can have my secret safe! Got it?"

Sasuke sat still, taken aback by the blonde. He sat, still restrained to his bed, as he slowly responded with, "Alright then."

Naruto expression softened slightly, but still shared a great deal of anger and frustration laced on his face.

"Now look, I didn't just sneak out of my room and through the entire hospital just for you to insult me and have the nerve to threaten my life. I came up here for you to do me just one important favor."

Sasuke looked disgruntled, "_Me_ do _you_ a favor? After you stopped me from-"

"-Getting murdered by a masochistic Sannin, having your clan's secrets being stolen by the same man and prevented your clan from becoming tarnished for years and years to come?"

Sasuke immediately shut up and Naruto said, "Now, shut it and listen up,_ Emo-Boy_!"

Sasuke obeyed after being yelled at, but scowled from being called Emo-Boy.

Naruto coughed and then cleared his throat, "...Never _once_ have I asked for anything, Sasuke. Even though I went out of my way to save your life on several occasions. I never asked anything of you until now, so listen carefully. What I'm able to do, for example is not considerable to be registered as a run of the mill kekkei genkai. Because what I'm able to do is considered, instead, to be extremely unnatural or almost dangerous. Here's what I going to propose to you; I will not press charges against you if you have a trial about your recent acts of treason. And as a bonus, I'll tell everyone that you kicked my arse and were about to finish me off but Kakashi-sensei stopped you at the last possible minute while I cried like a girl."

Sasuke's eyes widened greatly at hearing Naruto offer so much to him. He was fully willing to subject himself to torment and humiliation if he actually decided to cooperate.

Naruto continued, "You'll still be labeled as a shinobi badass and you'll get to rip on me twenty-four-seven. And as a bonus; I'll teach you any technique that you desire that _I _can provide _if_ possible. But _only_ if you swear not to tell anyone, you got it?"

Sasuke didn't move a muscle, as he thought about what was being presented to him. He would probably be put off the hook if he was honest about what happened, since the council favored him. He could lie to Kakashi and say that he truly learned what it meant to value comrades and if he was happy enough, he could still be more than willing to continue giving him specially supervised training. Naruto would become and remain eternally overshadowed by him. It was like Christmas came early for Sasuke Uchiha.

'_Any technique I could ever want from the dobe_, _plus the ultimate humiliation, huh?_' Sasuke thought with greed.

The treasures present before the Uchiha was more than he bargained for.

'_Beside's, eventually, I might be able to use one of his techniques against him. And with luck, I can finish what I was going to accomplish at the Valley. Just you wait Naruto._' the Uchiha laughed in thought.

Naruto, feeling as if Sasuke was going to reject his generous offer, was about to exacerbate, "Sasuke, plea-"

Then Sasuke answered, "Alright, fine. We got a deal... partner."

"What? Really?" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke held out his hand, despite it being restraint to the bed, to make the deal totally official.

"Well? What are you waiting for, dobe? Shake my hand."

Naruto looked at it and quickly took it, when Naruto pulled Sasuke by his arm towards him slightly and stared directly into before saying with a deathly tone in his voice.

"Remember Sasuke, _not a word to anybody_. Do you understand?"

"Crystal, dobe." Sasuke smiled.

Naruto released himself from Sasuke's crushing hand-grip and marched towards the door. He tapped the door handle with his wand up his sleeve once more.

He then murmuring, "_Alohomora_."

The door lock clicked once more, unlocking the charm he placed on the lock earlier. Naruto opened the door slightly before stopping to look at Sasuke's face one more time.

The blonde nodded, "Thank you... for once."

He left with the door closed securely, and sped passed his soon to be 'un-Confunded' ANBU guards. He left Sasuke, to his self-centered thoughts and ambitions of copying all Naruto's jutsu's and still expecting personal training from Kakashi, as a cherry on top of his self-centered sundae and pie.

* * *

Kakashi entered the hospital, fully prepared to scold at Sasuke beyond belief, and successfully keeping his dormant rage hidden under his bored and lazy facial mask.

He approached the receptionists' desk and asked politely, "Excuse me, but can you tell me where patients Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are, please?"

The receptionist flipped through several pages and said, "Uzumaki-san is in Room 345, the Common Care Unit, and Uchiha-sama is in Tower Room 466, in the Intensive Care Unit."

Kakashi nodded, and left for the stairs with a grunt of frustration.

'_Sasuke only suffered from a well deserved beating, without any lasting damage, and he's put into the ICU? Well, that seems just._' he thought with sarcasm.

Kakashi climbed the stairs with ease until he got to the top floor of the south west tower room, where his 'student' was resting. Kakashi vaguely remembered going to this exact same room to protect Sasuke from a staged kidnapping/assassination attempt from Kabuto Yakushi. Now he was going back to this exact same room to, instead of protecting Sasuke from uncertain doom, was going to scold the Uchiha to the point of no return. Quite a contrast, really.

The Copy Ninja approached the end of the circular hallway where he noticed two ANBU guarding the door, and for some strange reason were humming 'That's the Way, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh, I Like It!'. Kakashi gave a very strange look towards the two guards for a brief moment and coughed to get their attention. Soon, they both stopped, clearly embarrassed.

Kakashi saluted to both guards before asking, "May I enter Sasuke's room?"

Both ANBU nodded and stood aside to allow Kakashi entry. He grabbed the handle, and opened the door and closed it swiftly, without making it slam loudly. Though, he still made his presence known to the bandaged and noticeably dirty Uchiha clan heir.

Sasuke looked up and saw his sensei, giving him his infamous smirk. He expected Kakashi to be pissed off, but was intrigued about what he had to say. While Kakashi approached the Uchiha slowly, he noticed that Kakashi's only visible eye was shadowed by his lowered head. And then Sasuke foolishly said the wrong thing to him.

"Well Kakashi, what do you have for me today?" he asked.

Kakashi ignored what Sasuke had asked and continued to walk toward him slowly. Sasuke then grew angry that Kakashi didn't answer to him, "Hey, I asked you a question. Answer!"

Kakashi had finally stopped a foot before Sasuke's bed, and said Uchiha etched closer to the side of his bed to speak out louder.

"Are you deaf? I said answer-"

"How could you, Sasuke?" Kakashi interrupted with suppressed anger laced in his voice.

Sasuke looked perplexed for a split second before grinning again as if he were challenging the older man.

"How could I what?" he provoked.

"You know _damn_ well what you did." Kakashi said with more of his anger beginning to leek out.

"If you're talking about Naruto getting in the way of my revenge, then I don't see what I did wrong." he remarked smartly.

"You call shoving a fully-charged Chidori right into Naruto's chest acceptable?" Kakashi vocally outraged.

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it? Smile and pretend that everything's better?" Sasuke provoked him even further, "Give me your mediocre advice on how revenge is wrong? And how I should lean to forgive and forget? Leave me to absorb a stupid message while you go cry over the names of your stupid f**king friends at the Hero's Memorial? An-"

Sasuke was silenced instantly as the back of Kakashi's hand hit him ferociously, causing his head to slam against the wall behind him, snapping the restraints on his torso clean off.

Kakashi's body shook in anger and his only visible eye glared at Sasuke with the most intense hatred anyone who knew him would ever witness.

Sasuke covered his darkly bruised and now bloody cheek as he glared at Kakashi with sheer hatred of his own.

"What the HELL is your problem? How dare you harm me? I'm an Uchiha!" he yelled.

"You deserved it, you rotten traitor. And if you ask for my personal opinion; Naruto was too _soft_ on you at the Valley of the End!" Kakashi spat.

"But you hit me! Dammit, you're going to get it for doing that!" Sasuke threatened

"There you go, Sasuke. As conceded as ever. This is what's been upsetting me since day one. You don't see the value or strength in anybody but yourself. You never treated any other ninja in this village with any form of respect. I am your comrade _and_ your instructor, and you never once referred to me as 'sensei'. Your teammates, who went out of their ways to please or help you, never _once_ have you appreciated them or so much as thanked them. Not once! I told you how important and precious your teammates are. They're practically your family!" Kakashi scolded fiercely.

"THEY ARE NOT MY FAMILY! NO ONE IN THIS GARBAGE DUMP VILLAGE IS!"

"They almost sacrificed their LIVES for YOU! Do you not realize how much we all, as a team have sacrificed? For you? A family makes sacrifices to help each other, and that's what we've done for you. A team is like a family. And you never once realized how fortunate you are for us? No. Instead you chose to go to Orochimaru for power and _abandon the people who actually cared about you behind!_"

Kakashi yelled, but soon regained control of himself and calmed down slightly, while Sasuke recoiled at Kakashi's highly intimidating fit of rage but then reasserted himself in retaliation.

"DO YOU THINK I CARE? He offered me what no one in this village could ever supply me with! He saw me and sought me out! Above all others in the village, ME!" Sasuke retorted and then set his face into his all familiar smirk,

"I don't care about what you or anyone else thinks. You hear me, Kakashi? Those 'teammates' of mine, don't matter to me anymore... But I do have plans for my friend Naruto, though."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke with still angry, disgusted eyes, "You still have plans on killing him don't you? Why?"

"He got in my way and he will pay the consequence for having me locked up like this. Once I'm free, he'll help me unlock my new eyes when he does finally pay up." he laughed.

Kakashi's eyes widened at what Sasuke had said and thought with shock, '_He isn't-!_'

"Sasuke... You were planning on doing this the entire time...?" Kakashi spoke with hesitance, afraid to accept the truth of Sasuke's intentions.

"You only made Naruto your friend... just so you could murder him and obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Kakashi asked with restrained rage.

Sasuke smiled devilishly, "Heh! You better believe it."

Kakashi had to stop himself from lashing out at Sasuke. The Copy Ninja usually had almost perfect control over his emotions, after being in the ANBU for several years. It was very unusual to see Kakashi straining to control himself. He struggled, but soon he relaxed as he made his decision on what to say at last.

"Well that just tears it, doesn't it...?" he began as Sasuke watched with an amused smile.

Kakashi looked into Sasuke's unforgiving eyes deeply, '_He really has made his decision. The bond between him and the rest of us has been severed by his own hand. You have chosen your fate then, Sasuke._'

He sighed, "I tried to help you, Sasuke. I really tried to improve your behavior so you wouldn't make the same mistakes I made when I was your age. I know now that there's no longer any point in trying." Kakashi spoke calmly,"Sakura may not have helped much in giving you much of a reason to stay in the village, always pestering you and all, but she did risk her kunoichi career because of it. And Naruto, _your best friend_. Went out of his way and nearly died at your hand, trying to help you and bring you back. And what came from that effort Sasuke?"

Sasuke said nothing.

"You turned Sakura down and knocked her out without any shame in it, you lost the only kid in the village with enough guts to befriend you, and all that training you received will have gone to waste. You were granted a gift of awesome power, and I continuously advised you to only use the Chidori to protect your friends. That's the reason why I invented it in the first place. If I knew you were going to use the Chidori against Naruto in an attempt to obtain more power, I never would have bothered to be your teacher." He continued, "In order to help you prepare to defend your friends from such threats as your brother, I had to go as far as neglect Naruto and Sakura's training and even hurt them. Now I don't know what to do with Sakura's training unless she wishes to be a Genjutsu mistress like Kurenai Yuhi. And Naruto... knowing him, he will probably never want to speak to me again..." Kakashi ended with a very sad tone in his voice.

And again, Sasuke said absolutely nothing.

"But one positive thing will come out of this situation," Kakashi spoke out with a clear authoritative voice, "I, Kakashi Hatake, will never again teach you, Sasuke Uchiha, another technique, jutsu, or any way, shape, or form of any martial arts that exists, for as long as I remain on this Earth. That's my final word."

Sasuke's eyes widened at what he heard. Kakashi was actually vital to his plans to obtain more power from within Konoha. He needed him to teach him more advanced Lightning style techniques, and a way to use the Chidori more than twice a day. He needed that once assured training to balance out his quickly planned out progress.

"Y-You can't do that, you insignificant Hatake!" the raven-head roared in protest,

'_Hmm..._' Kakashi said in thought, '_Jeez, he acts more bratty than a six year old does without it's candy..._'

"Really, Sasuke? If I'm such a 'insignificant Hatake_'_ to you, then you wouldn't care If I left you behind. Goodbye." Kakashi said without any regret, as he turned to walk away from his soon-to-be ex-student.

"Get back here! I demand that you train me!" Sasuke demanded.

Kakashi turned back towards him and said, "Bite me."

Sasuke snarled at Kakashi and tried to rip off the remaining restraints on his bed so as to viciously attack his sensei, "You son of a whore! I'll get you for this, I swear it!"

Kakashi turned his back to Sasuke and continued, "By the way; once you are healed enough to be discharged, you will be reporting to the village Court Chamber for your disciplinary hearing. Several clan heads and jounin sensei's are placing _you_ responsible for the near deaths of Neji Hyuga, Choji Akimichi, and Naruto respectively. And because of your rude attitude towards me, and given the fact that you yourself admitted to me that you still intend to murder Naruto... I might as well voice what you said to me a few minutes ago, and you shall receive the rightful punishment. You family title won't get you out of this one with what evidence I now have."

Sasuke's eyes widened, shocked at what Kakashi said he was going to do to him.

"No...No... NO YOU WON'T! Now you're just playing favorites! What if the dobe were to do what I did, huh? You would just defend him in court, and prove him of some _false_ innocence!" Sasuke yelled back.

Kakashi stopped and turned, "Even _if_ Naruto would _ever _do something as low as abandoning his friends, I would still have to see to it that he would be punished just like you are going to be... But I will never worry about something like that ever happening, because Naruto is nothing like you. He's too nice and loyal for his own good."

Sasuke growled at Kakashi like an animal with unprecedented rage and contempt.

"I'm leaving now, Sasuke. I'll see you in the Court Chamber when I present my case. But for now, I have to go visit Naruto and beg for his forgiveness for what happened to him and what I made him go through."

Sasuke looked down at his sheets, still shaking in rage, as Kakashi walked out of the room, Sasuke exploded in a fit of rage and started thrashing his legs and arms and roaring at the top of his lungs for a short amount of time. Kakashi quickly disappeared behind the door, and severed his connection to Sasuke forever as the room turned quiet. He walked.

* * *

Kakashi closed the door behind him, not bothering to thank the ANBU for letting him into the room in the first place.

He rubbed his temples soothingly, trying to pull himself out of his foul mood. Yelling at Sasuke really took a lot out of him. Not that it was hard, he had every reason to say what he said. Although he did admit to himself that backhanding a thirteen year old genin _was_ taking it a little too far.

He tried to calm himself down, and after several minutes, he cleared his head and became fully prepared to apologize to Naruto.

He never wanted anything bad to happen to his blonde student. Naruto was one of those people Kakashi couldn't help but appreciate for their existence. He was so likable in Kakashi's eyes, he truly was. Probably because he had the same attitude and same present feeling as his did late best friend, Obito Uchiha. Hell, he couldn't help but _love_ the boy for that! Even though he didn't know how to express how much he cared for him.

Kakashi now continued out of the ICU and into the Common Treatment Center, where Naruto's room was located. While he trekked down the hallway he saw someone he didn't expect to be back so soon from his mission: It was Jiraiya. Still as tall as ever in his usual olive colored clothes, large red vest, summoning scroll on his back, and his abnormally long, white hair.

There he was, leaning against the wall, looking at Kakashi blankly. The jounin stopped as soon as he noticed him and averted his gaze to down the hallway.

Jiraiya spoke out, "You really let that Sasuke-gaki have it, huh?"

Kakashi didn't respond as he got closer.

Jiraiya spoke again, "He might have been one of your students, but a traitor to the village is still scum. We both know that."

Kakashi still did not respond, he seemed very determined to try and ignore his superior, and get to his other student.

"Kakashi..." Jiraiya spoke out, to get the jounin to stop.

And Kakashi did just that, right in front of the tall Sannin, but still looked ahead of himself. Kakashi finally moved and looked up towards the bright fluorescent lights that blazed powerfully over him, listening to them buzz subtly.

"... I never should have split up my team..." he admitted quietly.

Jiraiya sighed, knowing all to well that a large chunk of what happened was his fault, "You might be right... Maybe I should have-"

"Let the Hokage know of the Akatsuki threat since before the Chunin Exams, let me explain to my team of what was going to happen, and what dangers were soon going to threaten them. Doing so would have prevented this entire disaster from even happening." Kakashi interrupted calmly, not wishing to get angry again, but still getting his honest opinion out. Flinching, the Sannin looked down at the ground in mild shame.

"... I'm sorry. I am responsible for a good deal of what happened." he admitted willingly.

"That's right, a part of it is your fault. But _I_ could've prevented this all by myself. At the very least, I could've _talked_ to my team, disregarding what you advised me to do instead. I never should have left the village for that month of the Chunin Exams as you said I should do. I simply had to _talk_ to my squad..." Kakashi grieved.

The toad sage spoke again, "That was _not_ a good idea on my part, I'll admit... And I overheard what Sasuke had said about his 'unseen motives' for Naruto. Having you teach him jutsu on how to do it doesn't help a team move forward."

Kakashi looked up at Jiraiya at last, a bit surprised, "You heard all that?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah, I was just outside the door. Sasuke must have had the intent to one day destroy his closest friend for personal gain since the beginning. He must have been told how to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan at some point... And my instincts are telling me that it was Itachi. He must have divulged the information to Sasuke on the night of the massacre, since Itachi was the only known Uchiha to have obtained those eyes since the generation of the village's foundation... Sasuke was probably just bidding his time to act and then he-"

"-You don't need to remind me. I know." Kakashi interrupted again, not wishing to rekindle his frustration originally caused by Sasuke.

"Well, now that we know what's what, let's cut to the chase; Are you really intending to condemn Sasuke to whatever punishment he might receive in his hearing? Are you sure you want to testify against him with the other clan heads?"

Kakashi glanced down the hall once more, staring down the direction to his other students room, "Those who break the rules are garbage, but those who abandon their comrades and friends are worse than garbage. That's my nindo, Jiraiya. Sasuke has broken the the most important laws of our village, and has attempted to abandon the people who regarded him as their friend. No matter what, Sasuke became a missing-nin, a traitor to this village and to its inhabitants from the moment he took one step out of it with those scumbags from Otogakure. He is nothing but scum that deserves to be punished fairly. That's my final decision, Jiraiya."

A void of silence between the two men was soon interrupted with the sudden boom of thunder from outside.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Jiraiya, I have to visit Naruto. I've got to apologize to him while I still can."

With that, continued to Naruto and Jiraiya disappeared away.

* * *

_10 Minutes Later..._

'_You've got to be kidding me..._' Kakashi grieved mentally.

"What do you mean I'm not allowed to see him?" Kakashi asked in protest to Naruto's doctor. He had just refused Kakashi to go in and visit him.

The medic stated, "I'm sorry, Hatake-san, but his condition is very unstable and he needs his sleep. Not to mention that his visiting time ended twenty minutes ago. If you wish to see him, we'll let you know when you are able to. Until then, you will have to leave, and come back another day. I'm sorry, sir."

Kakashi sighed and nodded his head in understanding. He then walked away and out of the hospital, feeling more depressed than when he visited the Hero's Memorial earlier.

* * *

Sakura made her way to the hospital after a long walk, thinking of what she would say to comfort her 'Sasuke-kun'. She entered and asked the receptionists kindly where Sasuke's room was. When she heard he was in the top tower room, she was absolutely ecstatic and began to fantasize.

'_This way, we'll have the daylight shine down upon us while I'm there!_' she thought with glee.

She heard that the receptionist tell her that she needed an approved pass from the council in order to so much as visit Sasuke. So she began to walk away after she had flashed her Council Approval Pass she had received from her parents. She then climbed the stairs and became the third person that day to approach the two Confunded ANBU watching over Sasuke's door.

"Hello! May I go in and see Sasuke-kun, please?" she asked with a tone of honey in her voice, showing them her pass.

Both ANBU nodded and stood aside for her to enter,"Wow! First, we let in the King of Wrackspurts, then the Copy Ninja Kakashi, whose next after her?" one of them asked strangely.

Sakura entered the room, holding her get-well gifts to Sasuke and Naruto, and greeted Sasuke with a small smile on her pale face.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun! Good day, yes?"

Sasuke side-glanced towards the 'ever-annoying' Sakura, shaking in anger and annoyance. She remained oblivious to his prominent emotions as she walked towards him, placing Naruto's things aside and holding up Sasuke's daffodil along with some sliced apples. She placed the vase containing flower upon his bedside table for him to smell for whenever he desired and opened the container of apples. She put the apples on a plate she had underneath them and offered them to Sasuke, while said Uchiha looked at her with sheer hatred in his blazing Sharingan eyes. And through all of this, she continued to ramble on and on to him.

"I had to do a little shopping at the supermarket yesterday. These were the sweetest apples I could find! I'm sure you'll like 'em, Sasuke-kun."

She held out the plate for Sasuke to take one. But without any warning from Sakura's point of view, Sasuke took the entire plate of apples right out of Sakura's hands and threw it with a mighty thrust as if he were throwing a Frisbee. Alerted a little bit late, Sakura barely managed to dodge the attack. She threw her arms over her head fearfully, to defend herself and cried out in fright.

"You HAD to ask him? You HAD to beg the dobe to force me back?" he yelled at her like an abusive husband.

Sakura trembled in fright at her crush's violent behavior, "S-S-Sasuke-kun, w-what's gotten into you?" she stuttered.

"If you hadn't had Naruto go after me, I would be learning from Orochimaru by now!"

"B-but Naruto was trying t-to save you-" she attempted to reason.

"HE DID NOT SAVE ME! I'M GONNA BE EXECUTED, BECAUSE OF THE DOBE-AND YOU!" he roared.

Sakura dropped to the ground and sunk into herself at Sasuke's hateful words.

Sakura let the tears in her eyes leak out like a broken water pipe and she wept, "B-but, I l-l-love you, Sasuke-k-"

"I HATE YOU! YOU ANNOYING BITCH! GET OUT~!" He roared with every word emphasized.

Sakura jumped up to her feet and she fled away as fast as she could. The girl grabbed her belongings with her and ran down the hall with tears flowing heavily down her cheeks. She ran down the stairs, almost tripping once or twice, and refused to stop running until after three floors separated the two genin of Team 7. Once there, Sakura collapsed against a wall, sobbing at what Sasuke had said to her.

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To Be Continued...

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**End of Chapter 3! I hope you guys enjoyed it! **

**Be sure to leave behind a good old review! Kvsyaoran out!**


	4. The Hearing

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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**Hey All! Thank you all for your positive reviews! I loved them! I'm currently taking a little more time to update due to the lengthy exposition of Chapter 5 (and school). I will have you all know that while I'm writing this disclaimer, I am about ¾ done with Chapter 5. **

**For those who said in some of the comments, I do agree that Sasuke would've been/should have been killed, had I been in Naruto's place (as would any fan of the current manga, bleh) But alas, Naruto is more reasonable but still a bit of an idiot, even though he's a pretty awesome sorcerer-in-training.**

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Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

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Chapter 4: The Hearing

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Sasuke barely slept a wink on the night before his fateful trial. He wasted the whole night starring out his window and waiting for the sky to change from dark to light. Expecting to see a sun rise from the east, Sasuke was only met with a grey and storm sky as the sun was block but some light managed to peak through and bring about a bland morning. Sometime around mid-day two ANBU escorts came into his room and unlocked all of his restraints minus the ones that kept his chakra in check. His two escorts dragged him out of bed and had him leave behind his hospital room. Sasuke walked down the hospital corridors with his two ANBU escorts wearing a grim expression on his face. He hardly slept for the past four days; his hair was greasier, his skin was pasty and pale, and his eyes were glassy and filled with dormant rage. He passed many nurses, doctors, and medic-nins, that hardly any of them looked at Sasuke twice due to how absolutely menacing he looked to them.

Sasuke's ANBU escorts led him outside of the hospital and firmly grasping both of his shoulders to prevent him from escaping. They led the Uchiha towards the direction of the Administration Building where they led him to the towering stairs that led up to the buildings that were behind the Hokage mountain faces. The main building there was where Sasuke's hearing was scheduled to take place.

_The Volturi by Alexandre Desplat _(stopping 3:23)

Eventually, Sasuke was escorted into the large building behind the Hokage Mountain. He entered through the giant double doors, walked down he long, dark, candle-lit corridors with his two escorts following close behind him, ready to stop him at seconds notice. He looked straight ahead in the direction of the chamber, passing by old paintings and framed photographs, reflecting the extensive history of the village. His attention was caught briefly when they passed by a large photograph of the Uchiha Clan Police Force. He saw how strict and serious all of the Uchiha in the photo looked and saw his father, Fugaku Uchiha, standing in the front and center of them all, looking smug and proud. Sasuke quickly refocused his attention on the hallway and stopped in front of the large doors of the council chamber. His ANBU escorts walked in front of him and opened the double doors, revealing where his fate would be decided.

The chamber was high and circular in shape, the walls colored white with stone and outlined with finely polished wood. The only sources of light in the chamber were the candles lined around the perimeter and the circular window in the center of the ceiling, where he could see the grey sky outside. With what little light that shown down into the room dully reflected off of the semi circle carved table opposite Sasuke. The table was shaped into half of the room, and stood higher than the lone chairs at the center, which gave the council a clear, equal view of the defendant.

Sasuke entered the chamber slowly, taking in his surroundings. He saw that everyone was already in their situated places. All of the clan leaders were sitting down. The Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Nara, and Yamanaka all stared down at Sasuke judgmentally, while others in particular glared down at him with nothing but shear hatred.

Three other people accompanied the clan leaders. Hiashi Hyuga had Might Guy sitting down beside him, Chouza Akimichi had Asuma Sarutobi sitting right next to him, and the third person was Kakashi, although he was not with any other clan leader. He had chosen to represent Naruto by himself as he had promised. Along with the ninja sat several civilian council leaders, whom were in charge of the village's economy, shop's, and even the Shinobi Library. The librarians were, oddly enough, Sakura's parents; Setsuna and Toshiro Haruno. Since they were in charge of preserving shinobi history, they were given council-level status. Situated in the center of the table sat the three elders; Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura, the recent ex-stand-in Godaime Hokage.

They all looked down at the young Uchiha as the heir to the clan sat down into one of the chairs at the center. The council sat in their seats, staring at Sasuke with little to no emotion on their faces, while Hiashi, Chouza, Guy, Asuma, and Kakashi stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, knowing full-well what he was responsible for and what he tried to do.

Danzo stood up, "We will now begin. Disciplinary Case for Shinobi 012606: Sasuke Uchiha-"

But before he could go on, Kakashi interrupted, "Pardon me for interrupting, Danzo-sama, but shouldn't we wait for _Hokage-sama_ to arrive?"

The old warhawk glanced at Kakashi, at the far end of the table briefly and said, "I sent a messenger to him before the meeting. If he has not arrived on time, or notified his absence, then he must think it best to continue on without him."

Homura and Koharu nodded in agreement on Danzo's part to continue the meeting, while the other shinobi in the room looked perplexed and confused that a disciplinary meeting this important would be held without their leader.

Inoichi Yamanaka stood and protested, "This meeting regards a shinobi of our village's military force, our Hokage is in charge of the military force. We should wait for him!"

Danzo calmly replied, "If this meeting was so important to him, he would've arrived before any of us here even got here. He called for the meeting in the first place. Therefore, I take his absence as a sign that he wishes us to carry on with this meeting without him for just this one time. We shall continue now..."

The other ninja who were against starting without Sarutobi sank back into their seats. It didn't feel right to start this without the Sandiame Hokage.

Danzo sat in his chair of high authority as straight as his war torn body could allow, and spoke out with a strong voice, "Sasuke Uchiha, you have been brought to this court and sit before this council today for your crimes against Konohagakure no Sato. You have been charged with abandoning your village, disgracing your clan, and you were also responsible for the near-deaths of Choji Akimichi and Neji Hyuga. And lastly, erm... the attempted murder of Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke's frow furrowed deeper in response to Danzo having reminded him of his failure. Meanwhile, all of the civilians in the chamber hissed at the sudden mention of Naruto's name, as if his name were a taboo. The shinobi of the room rolled their eyes at the civilian's absurd resentment for the boy.

Danzo continued, "Right... Hatake-san personally requested that Uzumaki should be brought up in Sasuke's charges, acting as both Uzumaki's sensei _and_ his parental voice."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi, believing him to be favoring Naruto over him.

(A/N: Man, you think he can't get enough attention when he tries to commit murder :P)

"We shall discuss each charge individually and have our clan heads and sensei's have their say in defense of the victims. But first, Sasuke should present his defense... Sasuke, how do you plead?"

Sasuke did not look up and said, "You know what I did, why question it?"

The council blinked in response.

"Very well, Sasuke. Then I must ask you one more thing,"Danzo continued and the Uchiha looked up at him, providing the crippled war hawk his attention, "Why did you choose to defect from your home-village?"

Sasuke replied with a dark tone in his voice, "The Sound Five ninja gave me Orochimaru's invitation to take me on as his apprentice. He promised me all the power I could ever need... He offered to give me enough power to destroy Itachi and finally avenge my clan... So everything I did... I did for my revenge..."

The council's eyes turned wide slightly, shocked at how dark and cruel Sasuke had become. The clan heads and sensei's were taken aback at Sasuke's behavior, surprised that he was not even attempting to appeal as innocent, (A/N: In court you can get a reduced sentence if you plead 'guilty' to your crime, but only when your trial/trials first start. This can be a reason for why Sasuke wouldn't try to say 'not guilty'.) although they were not surprised at his self-centeredness.

Danzo looked down at Sasuke again with his tiny, judgmental, beetle-black eyes, "So, do you not feel any remorse in your decision to betray your village? Do you not regret trying to kill a comrade of yours _at all_?"

Sasuke responded, "No. I don't... With a choice of staying in the village or obtaining easy power from Orochimaru, I chose Orochimaru, hands down. I couldn't care less for this village and anyone in it."

The civilians could believe their ears. Whatever happened to the young, hopeful clan heir to the Uchiha clan?

Homura asked, "Is that all you have to say in your defense, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke looked at him, "What else is there to it?"

Danzo looked slightly displeased at this. And looked towards Kakashi with greedy hope in his only visible eye, "Kakashi, surely you wish to say something in Sasuke's defense? He is your student."

"No." Kakashi answered, earning a frown of disappointment from Danzo, "There is nothing of worth to defend in his case. I see no point in defending someone who shows no remorse for what he's done and plans to do."

Danzo looked very displeased with Kakashi's choice, as did all of the civilians, who glared at Kakashi with harsh contempt for not helping the Uchiha.

"Well... If that is all, then we shall move on to the plaintiffs." He looked over at Hiashi, "First, we have Hiashi Hyuga with Might Guy, regarding Neji Hyuga."

Hiashi stood up along side with Guy. The Hyuga head took a few moments to collect himself and spoke with a strong tone of anger in his voice, "My nephew Neji is a very valuable member of the Hyuga clan, and when I acknowledge him as valuable, I do not refer to his prowess or his self-mastery of the Byakugan. I refer to him as my nephew, a part of my extensive family. He's almost like a son to me. Although I have not been there for him recently, I nonetheless still care for him as a member of my clan and respect him as a comrade of our village... He was almost lost to death. To accept a mission you contribute to the village, in truth, you risk your life. We all as shinobi learn to accept that possible consequence of our life choice, and still carry out the mission."

Guy stood strong and said in his uncommon tone of seriousness, "Neji has proven himself to be an extremely loyal ninja to us all. He is talented to the degree where he has almost surpassed the Hyuga main branch in the Juuken taijutsu he mastered by himself, proving how serious the lose of him would be, speaking as his teacher." Guy concluded.

Hiashi said in continuation, "Neji was almost killed as a result of this selfish Uchiha's actions," Sasuke glared at Hiashi, "He deserves to be punished like any other shinobi for such a severe level of betrayal."

Hiashi leaned back into his chair as soon as he was certain that his words would sink in. Guy followed suit and sat with the Hyuga clan head and lowered his head in silence.

The chamber was silent except for the quiet scratching of pen on paper, as several members of the meeting wrote down any important information Hiashi divulged that would effect their final verdict.

Danzo stood up straight again, "The second voice, Chouza Akimichi and his companion Asuma Sarutobi, will now voice their shared decision."

Chouza stood up with a grunt, and his acquaintance, Asuma, stood with him. Chouza also hesitated as Hiashi did and said with a calm tone of voice, "Umm... In case none of you are aware; my wife and I have tried for a long time to conceive a child. It wasn't until thirteen years ago, when we were at last _blessed_ with the birth of our son Choji." He said happily, several fellow shinobi smiled (especially Shikaku Nara) warmly as Chouza spoke of his son.

Asuma stepped forth to speak, "Choji has always shown a powerful determination to make himself stronger, even when the odds were against him. When a stronger force rose against him, he always stood rooted to the earth. As far as his loyalty to his teammates goes... it's immeasurable... When I heard he had single-handedly defeated one of the Sound Five, I was proud and astounded at how strong he's become to say the least." he concluded.

Chouza said with a much less happier tone than before, "And when _I_ heard that my son was nearly killed, I feared that I had lost my blessing..." Chouza then remembered how dead his son looked when he first visited him in the hospital, "...I saw my son sprawled on a bed with tubes and wires attached all over his body, thin, pale and almost devout of life..."

The large Akimichi clan head had to stop speaking briefly, to rub away the tears that began to prick at his eyes.

He took a deep breath to control his emotions and swallowed the lump in his throat, "I pray that I will never have to see my son in that state for as long as I live... And it's because of Sasuke Uchiha that it even happened to Choji. That trash heap," he pointed at Sasuke, "Deserves to be locked away in a prison to rot for the rest of his life, for everything he has done to my son and several others, as well as to our village."

Chouza and Asuma sat down together, having finished putting in their two cents. The scratching of pens against paper ensued while the civilians looked worried about Sasuke. Danzo stared back at Asuma and Chouza intently, as if he were disappointed with their shared decision. Feeling there was still a little bit of hope left, he looked towards Kakashi. He hoped that the words of the other clan leaders didn't sink into Kakashi's head.

Danzo held out his good hand to gesture towards Kakashi, "Hatake-san, the floor is now yours. Surely, you can show a little bit more mercy to Sasuke than your previous comrades?" Danzo asked persuasively.

Kakashi remained seated for a few moments, as Hiashi and Chouza did before him. He reflected on what he remembered in his previous encounter with Sasuke and then stood, placing his hands in his pockets.

"I fully agree with Akimichi-sama and Hyuga-sama."

Danzo blinked in response.

Kakashi said, "Sasuke broke the law by betraying his comrades and abandoning the village. He should be punished for what he has done, regardless of his clan status and Sharingan."

The civilians could barely contain their outrage and shock with their gasps and dropped feet.

"But at the same time," Kakashi continued while he closed his eyes in shame, "I feel that this entire thing is my fault... For years, I've lived up to the belief that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are below garbage... I have _not_ been living up to my nindo. For the past many months, I've been exclusively teaching and training Sasuke. As a result of my decision, I fully neglected my other students, Naruto and Sakura, and drove my team to fall apart out of foolish favoritism."

The other clan heads (except for Shibi Aburame) looked outraged to hear this: Kakashi had been _favoring_ a single student conspicuously in front of his other students?

Guy and Asuma looked disappointed but satisfied at the same time. Kakashi, at last, had recognized what he was doing and admitted to his foolish foolishness.

They realized and witnessed his unfair treatment to his team when they discovered, at the Chunin Exam Finals, that he had taught Sasuke how to use the Chidori and again when Asuma (with Kurenai at the time) saw Kakashi waiting for Sasuke to train him some more outside of the Amaguriama Dango Shoppe. All of this was shortly before they had their face off with Itachi by the water banks.

"I foolishly trusted this kid with an A-Ranked jutsu, believing he would only use it to protect his teammates, his friends... But instead, he used my technique as an instrument to try to kill his friend, Naruto..."

The civilians and Danzo quietly scoffed at the mention of Naruto's name once again. Kakashi growled silently at how unimportant those lazy, ignorant council members labeled his blonde student.

Setsuna Haruno (Sakura's mother) said, "Do not blame yourself, Hatake-san. Sasuke-kun is simply more important than Uzumaki. You were doing what was right."

"No I didn't!" Kakashi said loudly, "I failed as a sensei. And for your information, _no_ student is more important than another... My job is to guide and teach each of my students equally, and give no reason to put one above anyone else. Minato-sensei taught me that the sensei's duty is like helping your students canoe across a vast and piranha-invested river. The sensei commands the team and teaches them how to row together in order to reach the other side safely. Instead of that, I split them apart and Sakura stood on one side to watch while Sasuke pushed ahead, dragging Naruto with him, and let Sasuke push Naruto into the infested waters. All due to my recklessness."

The council sat silently and listened to Kakashi intently.

"I will not stand aside and see what happens... I'm going to take control of this situation and decide the right choice... Just a few days ago, Sasuke informed me that he still has the intent to kill Naruto and still remains disloyal to Konoha. Therefore it is my decision that Sasuke should be punished, like any other traitor. That's my final word, no exceptions." Kakashi concluded.

Just before he was about to sit back down, Toshiro Haruno stood up quickly to protest.

"_You cannot do that_!" he hissed, "Sasuke clearly was not in a right state of mind at the time of his defection! You stood and let things play out, you said it yourself! You admitted it! You simply overlooked his tainted behavior! You should help him now and we-"

Kakashi interrupted the persistent Haruno rudely, "I spent the last three months with Sasuke, _after_ he received his curse mark! I didn't just let him do what he wanted or let him run free. He _deceived_ me into thinking he wouldn't harm his teammates for personal gain. But it turned out that he had the desire to destroy Naruto _before_ he confronted Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. My information coming straight from Sasuke himself." he gestured towards Sasuke, who had chosen the _wrong_ time to madly grin at the mention of his desired goals.

"Like I was saying; he became obsessed in his search for power longer than any of us had any knowledge of. In truth, the curse mark and Orochimaru, hardly effected his decision at all. What _did_ drive him to go to the Hebi-teme was the promise to obtain power, and fast." Kakashi ensured to Sakura's father and the rest of the council.

But Toshiro Haruno still held strong to his beliefs with Sasuke, "But he possesses the Sharingan, he's an _extremely_ valuable elite to the village!"

"In case you've forgotten Haruno-_san_, but Sasuke tried to _kill_ Naruto. It's his fault that Neji and Choji almost died trying to stop Sasuke from getting to Otogakure." Kakashi retorted reasonably.

Another civilian stood next to Toshiro and said, "Uchiha-san deserves to avenge his clan, if some expendable layabouts get in his way and try to stop him from that, then so be it."

At that one comment, chaos and outrage erupted within the meeting room like an active volcano.

"Are you _insane_!" Tsume Inuzuka yelled.

"Whose side are you on?" Chouza shouted.

"You're _supporting_ Uchiha's betrayal?" Hiashi questioned with rage.

"You are just _stupid_!" Kakashi complied at the civilian.

* * *

The yells and arguing ensued for several minutes. The shinobi on one side continued to protest in outrage at the civilians nonsensical reasoning, while the civilians on the other side insisted on proving Sasuke's dignity, purely for the sake of sucking up, desperately hoping to better themselves in the eyes of Sasuke.

Soon Danzo, having heard enough, shouted with an unexpected level of volume, "**Silence!**"

The chamber quickly became silent, and peace was temporarily restored.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane stood up to speak.

"The civilian council has no say in Uchiha's fate, for it does not directly nor indirectly involve the civilian population." Homura informed,

"You are only here on official attendance. None of your opinions, beliefs, or speculations will affect the final decision." Koharu finished.

"Not necessarily." Danzo contradicted politely, "Haruno-san has a point; Sasuke is the only remaining true possessor of the Sharingan that we have here in the village. If we decide to remove him from the shinobi program or, dare I say, destroy him, then we will lose the Sharingan completely."

Shikaku Nara arose, "What many of you fail to realize is that the Sharingan is _not_ the only bloodline in the _entire_ village. Why must you keep one clan in particular safe, while you disregard the many _others_ we have?" Shikaku question with silence as a response, "I _will_ admit that it _is_ valuable, for how convenient and powerful it is. But what use is it if the only Uchiha that has it holds no respect or loyalty to the village? With all respect, he's more of a liability to the village, with how hostile he is to his comrades."

Danzo eased back into his seat as he said, "We can find a way to work around this conflict."

The council looked at Danzo, clearly confused.

"What do you mean?" Hiashi asked.

Danzo closed his eye in his usual manner, "We can always spare him any harsh penalty and preserve the Sharingan, if we only have him sent to a place of rehabilitation." he proposed.

Sasuke looked up at Danzo briefly, with a strange mixture of relief that he might not be executed, but also ominous at the idea of being _sent away _somewhere else.

* * *

The council argued over Sasuke's penalty for another half-hour.

They finally made an agreement that Sasuke was undeserving of any special treatment such as rehabilitation nor was he expendable enough to be executed. The council then reasserted themselves with their jounin sensei companions (for those who were with any), and Homura stood up above the rest and stared down at Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha..." the raven haired teen looked up, "... After careful discussion and much consideration; it is of this council decision that we are to have you sent away to Konoha Strict Correctional Facility. Under constant surveillance for life."

Sasuke's eyes grew wide as they could possibly get.

"You mean I'm going to jail?" he outraged.

"We prefer to call it a Correctional Facility, if you will." Koharu informed.

The reality of Sasuke's situation hit him hard, like an oncoming train. He felt the room melt around him, momentarily pausing the people around him in the chamber. He felt as if a blanket of darkness had been cast over his entire being. His breathing had ceased for a brief moment as he thought to himself

'_...I'm not going to get out of this... There's no way out, at all..._'

He could not help but think of his future plans disappear before his eyes. His revenge, his clan, his power was all going to be lost.

He then heard elder Koharu's voice reach his ears as she said, "Unless you can provide us with anything relevant to your defense, Uchiha-san..."

Then Sasuke felt a strange feeling in his stomach that eased his feeling of defeat. He had only one choice left, if he wanted a single chance to carrying out his plans for power and revenge.

_Armand's Seduction by Elliot Goldenthal_ (or _The Exodus by Alexandre Desplat_)

He would have to turn in Naruto to the council.

Sasuke smirked to himself, '_Sorry, Uzumaki. But desperate times call for desperate measures_.'

"-Then I'm afraid we'll have to close this-" elder Koharu was about to finish, when Sasuke opened his eyes again and made the decision that would forever change the village of Konohagakure no Sato.

"WAIT!"

The council flinched at the sudden shout and their eyes fixed upon the Uchiha yet again.

"I have something you _must_ know! It's about Naruto Uzumaki!" he proclaimed.

The civilians, particularly the Haruno's and Danzo, looked intrigued on what he had to voice about the blonde shinobi, however, were not interested in hearing lies or accusations about shinobi considered to be heroes for their accomplishments.

"What do you mean, Uchiha-sama?" asked many of the civilians, eager to hear what he had to say about Naruto.

"He's been keeping a secret from you all for a long time, possibly for years." he began, exhilarated, "I have a good reason to believe that he's in practice of the Black Arts."

The council, thinking only of Naruto's connection to the Kyuubi, were instantly convinced of Sasuke's accusation. The shinobi and the elders were not amused. Kakashi actually stood up in protest angrily.

"You lying little shit. Don't listen to him everyone, he's just making up excuses so he can save himself." he responded, frustrated at Sasuke's attempt to wheedle out of his sentence.

Sasuke whipped his head towards Kakashi and yelled, "I'm not lying! I saw him using unnatural techniques at the Valley! He summoned all of this red and green energy and it swirled around him like crazy! It's like it was a part of him!"

This left the shinobi confused for a few seconds. They quickly assumed that Naruto would have had no other choice but to use the fox chakra in order to ensure Sasuke's defeat (thus explaining the red energy mentioned). But what was perplexing was that Sasuke mentioned 'green energy'. Wasn't that more associated with medical ninjutsu? Why would Sasuke try to use _that_ as an excuse?

Chouza suggested with sarcasm, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was his _chakra_."

"Chakra doesn't _manifest_ into a solid animal and attack you! This was like nothing I've ever heard or studied before. He even used a conductor and absorbed all of the flames of the fire-jutsu's like a sponge! He then used it again and created this _huge_ silver fox to chomp and claw at me! It caused my curse mark to recede even when it was at level two. It even burnt my skin!"

Hiashi reasoned, "What you saw him performing was probably Naruto's 'inner power'," He put emphasis on his words to refer to the Kyuubi's power, "He's already demonstrated his ability to control it perfectly, in his Chunin Exam Final match against my nephew Neji. Uchiha's accusations mean nothing."

Sasuke stared Hiashi down and said quietly, "He _told_ me not to tell any of you."

Everyone looked at Sasuke with confusion. And Sasuke continued to speak, with a wicked smile, showing no signs of hiding the truth.

"It's the truth. He came up to my hospital room before Kakashi showed up, and he bribed me into not telling any of you this. He even admitted that what he used against me was unnatural and dangerous."

Frustrated that Sasuke was trying to sell Naruto out to save himself, Kakashi boomed at Sasuke, "_You sniveling little liar!_"

"Kakashi-san! Control yourself!" Danzo silenced, causing Kakashi to sit back into his seat, "Now, Uchiha-san has an intriguing point, here."

"You don't _actually_ believe his story, do you?" Koharu questioned.

Shikaku (being the wiser one here) stood up, "Danzo-sama, this is ridiculous to even consider. We shouldn't be wasting our time with this nutball's story."

Tsume said, "I agree. Let's just drop this and throw this gaki in jail!"

"We have time. After all, witchcraft is an unholy crime. If there _is_ witchcraft being committed in my village, then I shall see to it that it's properly snuffed out." Danzo said arrogantly, referring to the village as if he owned it.

The civilians, despite being told that they had no business in ninja affairs, voiced their support for Danzo.

"I agree!" Toshiro Haruno voiced, "Uzumaki should be brought here right now!" another civilian said, "No crime should go unpunished here!"

Chouza Akimichi yelled in protest, "And let Sasuke get away with treason? Are you all insane?"

"Silence, Akimichi!" Danzo took his opportunity to signal to the ANBU to retrieve Naruto at once.

"It is decided that Uzumaki should be brought here, and be questioned about his involvement in Sasuke's story."

Sasuke looked at Danzo and said, "If you want answers from Naruto, then just question him if he _knows_ about the Black Arts after luring him into a false sense of security. If he reacts as if he knows something that he shouldn't, then you have your answer right there."

He smiled to Danzo, thinking like a madman for the sake of his freedom. Danzo looked back down at Sasuke with a nasty smile on his ugly face, '_I like how this boy thinks. He reminds me of myself back when I was a lad..._'

The shinobi were not happy to hear this being said and done. Thankfully Kakashi stood up, doing his job and protecting Naruto.

"Danzo, you are out of line asking for that." he began, refusing to refer to Danzo as his superior, "Besides, this is idiotic. Naruto would react badly anyway. If you ask him of his use of some 'Dark Arts', then he'll think you're referring to his 'red chakra' and he might get the wrong idea and panic either way." he reasoned.

Danzo merely smiled and looked ahead, "Then we shall question him about his use of the 'you-know-what's' power first, and then question his knowledge of the Black Arts. We'll know if there's a difference."

(A/N: They're not saying Kyuubi's name because Sasuke is still in the room)

Kakashi furrowed his brow, "Alright, I'm not going to let this go any further. To make a decision like that you need Hokage-sama to be here. If you're going to question the 'red chakra' legally, that requires the Hokage to allow you to discuss it. If you don't, then you'll have broken the disclosure degree he made over thirteen years ago."

Danzo began to grow irritated at being reminded that his old rival, Hiruzen, was _still_ the living, breathing Hokage. He turned his head towards Kakashi and shot him a nasty look before answering him again.

"If Naruto is involved in Sasuke's final sentence, then he should be here to prove what Sasuke has told us is true."

Kakashi insisted on his beliefs, "Any meeting regarding Naruto or the 'you-know-what' can only be permitted if the Sandiame is here. There is no other exception."

"This meeting will determine Sasuke's fate. If Naruto holds important information that can effect the village, then he should be questioned!" Danzo raised his voice.

Kakashi started to grow angry again, at how unreasonable Danzo was being, "No, he shouldn't. You have no authority over _my_ student!"

Danzo yelled, "I have authority over this trial!"

And Kakashi yelled back, "Well you're NOT the Hokage!"

"SILENCE!" Danzo roared at Kakashi in affixed anger, "If you speak out of line one more time, _Kakashi_, I will see to it that you are demoted from your rank as Jounin and _permanently_ disband your team!" The old war hawk threatened with malice, hating the reminder of his denied position of power.

Sasuke laughed to himself, "Ha-ha! Sensei got yelled at..."

Kakashi, having the choice of going against Danzo or losing his entire team forever, he slowly sat back down in seat, looking defeated. The jounin Guy and Asuma looked at their comrade in a mixture of pity and sympathy. They both saw the uncommon look of worry in Kakashi's lone eye and just felt sorry for him. They would have been more than happy to help him out of this jam (since he was finally trying to do his job), but there wasn't anything either one of them could do. Danzo had already sent out the unidentified ANBU soldier to drag Naruto all the way from the hospital over to the meeting room. Kakashi cringed at the thought of seeing Naruto being tormented by Danzo or the rest of the council and being unnecessarily interrogated. He had never taught him (or any of his students for that matter) how to better cope should the time come if you were captured and questioned by an enemy. Naruto would be torn apart. He growled at Danzo, as the old man sat back into his big chair, acting as if he had accomplished something worth-while. The civilians also looked pleased and so did Sasuke.

'_... At long last, Uzumaki... After thirteen years... You will fall...'_

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Back at the hospital, Naruto suddenly woke up with a start and a white hot flash of pain stung at his forehead.

"OUCH!" Naruto winced.

His hand, reflexively, touched his scar and he started to gently caress his now throbbing forehead. Harry woke from his short cat-nap, sensing Naruto's sudden distress.

'_**Naruto, what's' matter?**' _he asked groggily,

'_My scar... It stung just now._' Naruto responded.

Harry got up and out of bed and looked up towards the ceiling to check what the outside sky looked like. He saw that the grey skies of the morning were still growing darker, promising a good storm.

'_**Perhaps, it's just a headache, Little one.**..' _Harry guessed.

Naruto shook his head, '_No. I'm absolutely sure I felt it burn just now, Harry._'

Moments after Naruto had been born and during the merge of Naruto's soul and Harry's, Naruto began to bear the exact same lightning bolt-shaped scar on _his_ own forehead as his older brother had back while he was alive.

But it's not like Lord Voldemort was lurking just outside his hospital door, ready to kill the two of them. Voldemort was dead. Harry made sure of that, which was unfortunately (or rather fortunately) the reason he was here.

But it was only _Naruto's_ scar that ever hurt these days, and this isn't the first time it's ever happened to Naruto. It stung one time in the Land of Waves, when the ninja Haku was approaching him in his sleep stealthily. It happened again on many different occasions in the months-time before the Invasion of the Konoha after the Chunin Exam Finals had commenced. Naruto scar stung everytime Orochimaru, blood-thirsty Gaara, or one of Orochimaru's agents were around him or let out a killer-intent towards Naruto's general direction. Harry had quickly analyzed that Naruto's scar served as warning of danger to him, which ironically is what Harry thought his was for when it first began to burn throughout his first year of Hogwarts. For Harry, it _was_ for when both Voldemort was nearby him and for when Voldemort expressed a very powerful emotion (at least back then). But for Naruto, it was a warning defense for possible life-threatening danger to him. A defense-mechanism in short.

'_What do you think it was, Nii-san?_' Naruto asked.

'_**... Maybe something bad has happened just now...**'_ Harry deduced.

Naruto placed his hand under his chin and thought to himself slowly and carefully before saying, '_...The only question is; what is it...?_'

Harry suddenly picked up two unfamiliar chakra signatures coming in close, '_**You're about to find out, someone's coming and they don't feel friendly...!**'_

Naruto swiftly made his way back underneath his covers, as he heard the sudden opening of his hospital room door. Naruto heard footsteps which were quickly put together when two ANBU stepped into his room and stopped at the foot of Naruto's plain, white hospital bed. Naruto looked up to see their porcelain animal masks and then dropped a hopeful smile once he realized that they were not the same two guards he had Confunded a few days ago. But something was odd about these two particular ANBU soldiers. They both wore identical masks and from the looks of it, had the exact same height, hair, muscle-content and tone, and showed no differentiation whatsoever.

They stopped before Naruto's bed and stood as still as statues, not even letting a spec of dust move on their shoulders.

'_**Quick! Hands between your legs, Naruto!**'_ Harry joked to put Naruto more at ease.

Naruto yelled back at him, trying his hardest not to laugh out and look like a crazy person, '_Harry, shut it!_'

One of the two guards spoke, "Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Uh-huh?" the blonde responded.

"You are needed at the Council Meeting Chamber, right now." the one on the left ordered in a flat, stoic voice.

"For what?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Don't ask questions. Come with us." the one on the right ordered monotonously.

Naruto pulled himself out of bed and grabbed his crutches so he could get to the other end of his room. There, he pulled a changing veil over him and quickly changed into a fresh pair of green and orange boxers. He just couldn't stand getting out of bed and not freshen up with fresh clothes. He then threw aside his used hospital gown and picked up to put on what he knew by now, to be his only remaining orange jumpsuit left in his possession. Shizune or one of Naruto's other trusted friends must have dropped it off for him over night. The most likely person being Shizune, since she worked at the hospital alongside her aunt Tsunade.

Once he was ready, the ANBU then led him out of his room and out of the hospital, and took him to the council. (A/N: In case no one guessed, these ANBU are from ROOT)

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Naruto made his way down the long hallways with the assistance of his crutches, briefly glancing at the portraits and photos of Konoha's history on the walls just as Sasuke had done earlier. He soon faced the same doors Sasuke had as well and entered with the help of the escorts, who pushed the doors wide enough for him and them to get through. The heavy doors slowly closed with a loud thundering noise and locked.

Naruto looked around and saw the council and several jounin sitting in the higher seats ahead of him. Closer by, he saw Sasuke sitting down on one of the chairs in the center of the chamber, his back facing Naruto.

The blonde tried his best to relax and attempted to clear his mind of all of his emotions in order to shield himself from the council's judgmental eyes. Naruto was not perfect at Occlumency (even though it was the first magic Harry ever tried to teach him) but his shields were impressive enough to withstand most killer intent in the middle of combat. Had he been a Hogwarts student, he would've been _praised_ for his ability to use it as he did.

Naruto put up his shields and then noticed something ominous as he walked to his seat in the center. It appeared that Sasuke was on the verge of breaking down in his seat and crying. Naruto ignored him and sat down, a chair between him and Sasuke, with a very strange feeling in his stomach as his scar stung every few seconds.

'_**...Something doesn't feel right here.**..' _Harry openly suspected.

Naruto agreed, '_You're telling me. My scar's pulsing right now. What's more, Sasuke Uchiha _doesn't_ cry..._'

The blonde's eyes gazed up on and went down the council's table, searching for Sarutobi. He saw several civilians he had never met or seen before, Sakura's parents, Hiashi Hyuga, Guy-sensei, Asuma, Choji's dad, Shikamaru's dad, the two elders Koharu and Homura, his sensei Kakashi, and at last but not least, Danzo Shimura. But, Sarutobi was nowhere to be found and Naruto grew worried. His search of the chamber was quickly cut short when Danzo spoke out to him.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he called, Naruto looking up at him in response, "You were brought out of the hospital on a very important matter. Can you guess what it is?"

Naruto put on his mask of clueless confusion he mastered so easily and said, "N-no. I'm not sure..."

"Hmph! I'm not surprised at your answer, stupid boy." Danzo rudely pointed out Naruto's lack of intelligence, "You are here because we are discussing what had happened between you and Sasuke, here."

Naruto pretended to realize what he meant by saying, "Oh! You mean the fight at the Valley..." he then slowed down his words and he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

Danzo and the civilians then shared a sickening smile of amusement as Danzo carefully released a wave of killer intent at Naruto and the boy faltered at sensing it.

"We will see... Naruto Uzumaki," Danzo began, as Naruto bit his lip, beginning to struggle with his mental shields, "...Did you use your 'red-tailed chakra' to enable your victory against Sasuke?"

The shinobi were _very_ shocked that Danzo hinted at the Kyuubi so inconspicuously, and Naruto then answered, "Yes-but I had no other choice! It was the only way I could defeat him and stop him from getting away!" Naruto ensured quickly, before anyone could call for his death.

Danzo held up his hand and said, "Well that's interesting... And that's all you used to stop him?"

"Yes. That's all." answered Naruto.

"That's indeed very interesting... You didn't have a choice... Very interesting."

Harry growled, '_**If that fatass says 'interesting' one more time, I swear to god, I will fu-**'_

Naruto tried to tune out Harry's following words with several fake coughs and asked, "What's interesting?"

Danzo's smiled deepened creepily, "It is interesting because we just received very _illuminating_ information about the fight between you two. We have received intelligence that you performed techniques, that are not even associated with your 'red chakra' or any form of ninjutsu that has ever been recorded in the history of shinobi arts. Will you care to explain this?"

Naruto began to stutter, "I-I-I-"

He couldn't speak. Naruto felt his esophagus begin swell up, constricting his breathing. A large lumped form in Naruto's throat as his face began to turn pink and then red. The blood in his body rushed to his face and the pace of his heart increased badly. Naruto was now cornered, and his mental shields were shattered like glass, as the death-glares of both Danzo and the civilians worked together and fixed Naruto into a trap. Danzo, knowing full-well when an enemy was at it's weakest point during an interrogation, was when you strike them down with full force. He took this opportunity presented to him and struck Naruto with a strong, verbal attack.

"Naruto Uzumaki, are you in practice with the Black Art of witchcraft? Are you a witch?" He questioned fiercely, like a boom of thunder.

Naruto's skin grew deathly pale, the red and pink in his face faded away, and his heart almost stopped beating. He then turned slowly towards Sasuke and saw him giggling to himself while looking at the blonde wizard. Naruto felt as if he were instantly teleported back into the same hospital room he and Sasuke were in back when they had made the deal. To Naruto, no one else stood in the room apart from the two of them. All sound had turn exempt to him as he starred at Sasuke for the longest time and finally spoke to him.

"You unbelievable, son of a bitch. How could I be so stupid to trust you...?"

Sasuke then smirked wickedly and said, "There's your proof ladies and gentlemen of this esteemed council."

Naruto blinked and the hospital room had vanished in a flash of light, and just like that, he was back in the council chamber that suddenly became flooded with gasps and uninterpretable yells.

Naruto gasped, "Wait! NO!"

The shinobi were absolutely shocked to their core by what they heard Naruto say; what Sasuke had said was true. But knowing a person like Naruto, they all knew better than to think he was an evil-doer. So they stood up to his defense, unable to think of anything else to do in the chaos.

Kakashi was frozen in his seat at what he discovered about his Obito-like student.

Naruto was a practitioner of witchcraft?

He couldn't believe it.

Kakashi slumped back into his chair and sat quietly; He shouldn't say or do anything, as it would only cause him trouble that he wouldn't be able to handle. But then he saw Naruto, pale-white, hardly breathing, and beginning to lose his balance. His tender heart reminded him that this boy was his precious student, and he _needed_ his help, now more than ever before.

He then stood up abruptly to Naruto's defense and argued against the harsh demands of the civilians. His fellow jounin, Guy and Asuma, also had similar reactions upon realizing the truth. But soon they were reminded of Naruto's harmless and kind nature and quickly stood up to help Kakashi with protecting the boy.

_Occlumency by James Hannigan_

Naruto felt his entire world begin to crash and shatter all around him. To him, the world had grown dark and cold as if the dementors had entered the room and started to gather around Naruto in a tight circle wherein he and Sasuke were sitting in their individual chairs and he did nothing to defend himself or horde the imaginary monsters away. Naruto could literally feel the frost forming on the floor and freezing over his chair. With every breath Naruto took in, it grew more difficult as if he were sitting at the summit of a mountain capped with snow and ice. He had accidentally committed the ultimate taboo and now his life was a ruin. Naruto continued to stare at Sasuke, amidst to all the chaos, he saw him laughing at his misery.

"You swore to me that you wouldn't tell, Sasuke! _You swore to it_!" Naruto yelled tearfully at the Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked at the blonde and replied, "Oops!"

Then it hit Naruto. It wasn't until only just now, did Naruto finally hear and process the noises that were echoing all around him. The civilians of the council were yelling at the top of their lungs, their voices echoing in the chamber from it's open vastness and spitting insults, demands, accusations, and actual saliva and mucus at Naruto.

"He's a WITCH!"

"Destroy him!"

"KILL HIM!"

"DEMON!"

"BURN HIM!"

Naruto was now sweating from every pore all over his body.

His most terrifying nightmare had become a reality.

Naruto began to hyperventilate uncontrollably, and started to chant to himself, "This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening!"

Sasuke laughed at Naruto's baby-like misery in a high-pitched voice, satisfied that if he could not _kill_ Naruto, he would at least cause him to be as miserable as he was now. Not even special training could satisfy him like he was satisfied now.

Naruto's breath was suddenly cut short, and he fell off his chair and onto the ground where he retreated into a fetal position. His breathing began to slow down rapidly as he was beginning to lose consciousness. Harry tried to reach Naruto, but he grew distant and unnaturally quiet as his eyes in the real world began to lose their shine and color, as if Naruto were being shut off. Harry tried his best to sooth him with his voice and try to calm him down. As soon as Naruto returned to the world of the mindscape, Harry placed him down on the bed as he did many times before and tucked him in nicely. Once sure that he wouldn't go anywhere anytime, Harry stood up abruptly and ran to the place where Naruto's subconscious resided. He felt that the only way out of this terrible problem was to go and solve it himself.

The chaos inside of the chamber was sudden interrupted as the heavy double doors of the entrance were _slammed_ open, revealing the furious Sandiame Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companions; Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Iruka.

"What is the meaning of this monstrosity?" the Sandiame roared.

The chamber fell so silent that even the insects in the room didn't dare make a movement or sound. All of the civilians were terrified to the very core, to see the Hokage so angry. Danzo in particular looked the most frightened of all to see him, and began to sweat profusely.

"ANSWER ME!" the Sandiame roared even louder than before.

Danzo found the courage (unlike the others in the room) to speak, "H-Hokage-sama, why are you even here?" he asked with nervous fear.

'_This isn't right. He shouldn't have known this meeting would take place today! How did he find out?_'

Before the Sandiame could answer him, Iruka noticed Naruto on the ground; bloodless and unconscious and cried out with worry, "_Naruto!_"

He and Shizune rushed to his side to check up on him, while the Sandiame answered his rival calmly, while glancing at the boy he considered his grandson, "If you must know, I was on my way to see Naruto at the hospital after Jiraiya and Tsunade were finished informing me on something important about him. Only when I finally got to the hospital, Iruka and Shizune, here, were in panic because Naruto had disappeared from the hospital. He wasn't checked out, and one of the nurses, thankfully, saw him leaving with two _unauthorized_ ANBU escorts, to a meeting I had absolutely no knowledge about. Immediately, I set out with my accomplices here, to put a stop to this before it began." Sarutobi informed.

Kakashi turned at Danzo and yelled, "You _told us_ you sent for Hokage-sama, Danzo!"

The crippled elder looked more nervous as he tried to say, "I-In my defense, I felt it best for the village if I-"

"-Allowed a crazy _witch-hunt _to commence in a meeting?" Sarutobi interrupted with billowing anger, "What crime has Naruto even committed? As far as I know, Naruto successfully saved Sasuke from Orochimaru on the retrieval mission. What has he ever done wrong in your eyes?" he questioned aggressively.

Only one of the civilians found the courage to answer him, "H-he has been caught committing witchcraft! He used it on Uchiha-san, and for all we know, it could've killed him!"

Sarutobi stared at the civilian who spoke, disgusted by all the civilians continued discriminative behavior towards Naruto, and asked, "Do you have _proof_?"

Toshiro Haruno stood up and said, "Uchiha-san claimed to us that Uzumaki _bribed_ him to keep this secret of his, which proved to be true when Uzumaki said out loud that they had made the deal. We all heard it!"

Sarutobi glanced at Naruto sadly, seeing him in Iruka's arms, as the man tried to revive and comfort him with Shizune at his side.

'_... Naruto-kun... Why didn't you tell me this sooner...? I could have helped you..._'

The Hokage sighed, and stood up straight again. He took in a deep breath of air and prepared to help Naruto with what little chance of success he had.

"I can explain Naruto's complications with the help of my companions here. Iruka, Shizune, Jiraiya, Tsunade could you-"

"_**-Allow me to explain.**_" called an entirely different voice all of the sudden.

It was Naruto that spoke only it didn't sound like his voice entirely. The faces of every single person in the room turned toward him and froze. Iruka and Shizune backed away from him, allowing Naruto to lift himself up and stand tall all on his own. Everyone stared at the boy, and when he opened his eyes, everyone expecting to see his famous cerulean-blue and were shocked and alerted to see that they had turned to piercing, emerald-green eyes instead.

Kakashi saw Naruto stand up and face him and the others and said, "Naruto, what-"

He had stopped and froze in place when he looked into his student's new eyes, "Wait a minute... You're not Naruto! Who are you?" he demanded the unknown entity.

Naruto turned to look at Kakashi and spat, "**_Be quiet, you idiot jounin..._**"

Everyone's eyes turned wide at hearing the teens voice having also changed. It sounded like an unnatural mix between Naruto's normal voice and the voice of which that belonged to a young adult.

Sasuke looked into Naruto's dramatically changed voice and eye color and the demanded for an explanation, "What's going on with him?"

Sarutobi stood still in shock before he turned to the ANBU in the room and signaled for them to remove Sasuke from the room at once.

"Take Uchiha outside. Guard him at all times. Now!" he ordered.

The two soldiers vanished out of thin air before reappearing behind Sasuke. They both grasped his arms tightly and dragged him out and away from the chamber. Sasuke struggled against the lightning fast ANBU, as he was thrown out.

"LET GO! I want to know what's going on!" he yelled before the doors slammed shut and locked him out.

Back with the council, Danzo stared at 'Naruto' with sudden contemptuous hatred, and squinted his only remaining good eye.

"It's the Kyuubi..." he accused quietly.

'Naruto' spoke out loud enough for everyone to hear, "_**No. I'm not the damn fox. If I were, then I would've attacked you by now, wouldn't it?**_"

"What are you?" many people demanded at once.

The blonde adopted a very stoic look, and said as if he were aged much older, "_**What am I you ask...? I was once a man like many of you here... Until I had passed away and was reborn into Naruto... In fact, I was the person he was meant to become at birth...**_"

Naruto took a long pause before running his fingers through his hair and said, "_**... My name... is Harry Potter...**_"

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To be continued...

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**Dun-Dun-DUN!**** Wow, that took a long time to write! Sorry everyone for the delay, I hope I didn't upset anyone. Chapter 5 is a doosey! Not to mention that Finals start next week for me, but after that I'll be free to write before you know it. I really appreciate you all being so patient, thank you all, your great!**

**I did however have some second thoughts on the Percy Jackson bit being in my crossover so I might or might not omit that. It all depends on how it fits in the story. **

**And as for Naruto's secret having now gone public, I HAD to do that in order for the plot to commence. **

**I have A LOT of great plans for Naruto in future chapters, including magical mischief. Hehehe! **

**Well. . . That's all I got for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, wish me luck on my finals, and god bless you all for reading.**

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Reviews keep me motivated, so be sure to post them when you can! Thank you! **


	5. Harry's Story

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah' **_: Harry talking to Naruto

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**Hey, I'm back! First I would like to point out a few things that were brought up in one of the reviews, this reviewer made a couple of good points I felt should be explained, and I would like to thank them most dearly :)  
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**First, I would like to point out my numerous grammatical errors.**

**My typing program, unfortunately, DOES NOT have any correction apps, except for Spell Check. Until I can get a better program, I'm sorry but what you see is what you get for now.**

**Second, my choice in music and the fact that there _is_ music.**

**I ****know**** there was Twilight music in the last chapter. While I don't enjoy the movies or books that much, I _do_ enjoy the music a lot. But I _only_ used the soundtrack score from New Moon, purely, because the film's composer is Alexandre Desplat, who is confirmed by Warner Bros. to be scoring the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. So I thought it was ideal to use his pieces from New Moon, so long as they fit. Who cares if it's from Twilight, it's JUST music. I will also use music from other film score's from Desplat, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, James Horner, Harry-Gregson Williams, Elliot Goldenthal, Hans Zimmer and John Williams, so long as it fits in the scene properly. (I'm obviously a HUGE movie score buff. I just didn't like the music used in the Naruto anime that much.) As for why I even _have_ music, is purely because I thought it was pretty cool to add in music that inspired me to write. If anyone doesn't want me to have it up, then I'll put it down if there are enough votes to convince me. I hope it doesn't bother you guys**

**And lastly, my weak plot structure. EVERYTHING is going to be explained in this chapter. I know this will seem VERY repetitive, re-explaining Harry's story, but you must take into account, that Harry's audience has no knowledge of his world, and must explain his and Voldy's origins (minus the information regarding Ministry of Magic law and disciplines and any Dark Arts info, such as Vanishing Cabinets and Horcruxes). **

**That's all I have to say. Enjoy!**

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**Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

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Chapter 5: Harry's Story_  
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The chamber fell silent as death. Everyone's attention was pointed directly at the young blonde, with looks of shock or surprise engraved onto their faces. Iruka and Shizune, in particular, had a shared look of shocked, wide-eyed horror at the fact that Harry decided to reveal himself so bluntly. Harry/Naruto sat back down then straightened up and crossed his legs in a very refined manner. He held his hands together with elegance and closed his now beautiful green eyes calmly.

_Libra Me by Elliot Goldenthal_

"What do you say we get started, eh?" Harry asked with an inviting, alien accent.

No one had the bravery to respond. The civilians were frozen with fright, believing the Kyuubi had possessed the boy's body and invited them into a trap with a pleasant conversation as bait. The shinobi, who had not met Harry personally before, couldn't speak for the same reasons, affixed horror chilled them all to the bone.

The elders, Homura and Koharu clenched their chests in fear, but Danzo suppressed his shock into a face of cold hatred, "The Kyuubi no Kitsune..." he accused again.

Harry called out to him, "No. I am not the damn fox. I informed you of that before."

The shinobi, for some unexplained reason couldn't explain why, but they were _strangely_ put at ease by his assurance.

But then Kakashi stood up, "Then _what_ are you? And what are you doing controlling Naruto?" he demanded, fully concerned about his student.

Harry kept his eyes closed and said, "He went into shock and passed out. I then possessed his body in order to make sense and peace of this whole situation. Please." he explained.

Chouza Akimichi voiced, "This doesn't make sense. How can you be possessing Naruto-kun, and _not_ be the Kyuubi?"

"Nothing else was sealed away into Naruto apart from the Kyuubi. What else could you be?" Shikaku said, supporting his friend.

Harry remained silent before he opened his eyes slowly, mesmerizing everyone who gazed into his twin emeralds, "Perhaps there was a mistake during the Yondiame's sealing ritual, and a lost soul made his way into Naruto's body unintentionally." Harry spoke with an enchanting voice.

His brief words left a very strange impact on the council, the excuse, for some reason, felt a little bit convincing for being such a stretchy speculation. After all, the Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) has many unknown powers, for all they know, he could be telling the truth. But others were not genuinely convinced.

Tsume Inuzuka outraged, "B-but that's just impossible, isn't it?"

"I will admit that it's very unlikely. But who is to say that it's impossible?" Harry reasoned calmly, the council perplexed, "Beside, if I _were_ the Kyuubi, then wouldn't I have simply killed you all by now? Why would I waste my time trying to talk to you all, when I could fulfill a thirst for human slaughter that which does not exist?" he questioned everyone, and smiled seeing the realized looks of most of the council, "Because I am not, for the last time, the bloody goddamn Kyuubi." he ended loudly, causing those few to flinch at him.

"Aren't the colour of my eyes proof enough? Do they glow red with blood lust and murdering intent, or do they shine with proof of another being?" He dared the council to question his argument.

No one spoke against him, being pretty much convinced.

Hiashi Hyuga chose to question Harry on something different, "You said earlier that you were a _lost soul_. Does that mean you were _once_ alive?"

Harry looked at Hiashi, surprised at his reasonable behavior and answered, "Yes... I was once a man like any other... I think it would be best if I were to change my appearance, wouldn't you?" he questioned the confused looking council, "I feel that explaining to you all as Naruto is a little bit strange, wouldn't you say?" Harry suggested, "Allow me to show you all a resemblance to what I once looked like..."

Harry then cupped his hands and brought them to Naruto's face. The council and the Hokage's party stared intently at the young teen and gasped after he slid his hands across his face and through his hair, and revealed a brand new face.

"By kami..." several people gasped.

Naruto's face had been transformed; he now had an even, perfectly shaped nose between his two piercing emerald eyes. Naruto's subtle whisker mark had vanished beneath perfectly sculpted, adult cheekbones. And his golden-yellow spiked hair reformed and turned dark brown and untidy but much neater hair style. The changed color in his hair really contrasted to his now fair skin so much that it almost appeared black. Harry's face looked young and intelligent, but his eyes gave him a very tired look, like an old man in need of a lot of sleep. Overall, the almost everyone in the chamber found Harry to be an unnaturally beautiful man.

Harry relaxed in his chair and held his hands together before he licked his lips and said, "I am aware that several of you were accusing my Naruto of using 'evil powers', as you like to call them. But I am here, possessing his body now in order to claim responsibility for his knowledge in my arts. I taught him the techniques that dickless-Sasuke claimed to witness. I taught Naruto everything he knows about-"

Suddenly, Setsuna Haruno bolted out of her chair and pointed an accusing, bony finger at Harry, "It's true then! He's a witch!"

"QUIET!" thundered Sarutobi, causing everyone in the chamber and beyond to tremble in fear at the terrifying might of the Hokage, "You _will_ be quiet and let him explain himself, Haruno-san. I will not tolerate any more accusations to break out whilst I'm here. That goes for all of you as well." Sarutobi warned the entire council, his voice so terrifyingly angry.

Sarutobi then nodded towards Harry, letting him continue, "Right, I am here because I want to clear Naruto's good name, for he has done nothing evil, of any sort. As crazy as this sounds, he, like myself and many others of our kind, were _born_ the way we are. He and I were born with the ability to use and control a legendary substance called magic."

Everyone in the room, except those who already knew, were shocked to hear this. But Danzo was not amused, nor convinced.

"Magic?" Danzo snorted in response, "What nonsense is this you speak of, _demon_?"

Harry glared at him with irritated green eyes, sick and tired of dealing with such ignorant superiors, "I am not a demon, you miserable, vomitous mass." he started with ice in his voice, "So you don't believe that magic is real, and yet you accuse Naruto and I of practicing in the devil's art? Pardon me for speaking my mind, but I think you're a crazy, senile moron." Harry insulted with full intent.

This caused the war hawk to rise in his seat in outrage at being insulted. But Harry knew that his comeback would only slow down his entire opportunity, and to solve this, he pointed his finger and aimed directly at Danzo's throat just as he was saying, "What did you just sa-"

"Here's a little taste of what Naruto and I can do: _Silencio!_" he annunciated.

And instantly, Danzo's voice had been turned mute as if someone with a remote control pressed the button that silenced him. His lips kept on moving and yet no sound came out of him. Danzo noticed quickly that his voice was gone, and held his throat while trying desperately to make a sound. It seemed as if he were raising his voice and questioning what had happened to him, and then it looked as if he began to yell as loud as he possibly could. And yet no matter how hard he tried to reverse the charm that was placed on him, still no sound was ever made audible.

Everyone quickly realized that Harry had cast a spell on Danzo, proving that his 'magic' was real. This also caused the council to freeze and shiver at Harry with fear.

"I think we can do without your spontaneous judgments for a few minutes." the wizard smiled.

Harry looked up at the rest of the council and said, "Please. Do not be alarmed, everyone. I will not harm any of you, I promise. I only silenced him. My jinx will wear off in a few minutes. Please, relax." he reached out to the gathered group calmly, again, causing everyone to feel slightly assured.

The council relaxed and allowed him to continue talking.

Harry carefully collected himself, preparing what he should and should not divulge to everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen of this council, please worry not. For as long as we are all willing to co-operate and listen to each other fairly, then there will be no problems here today... I feel that it is now time to take this opportunity in order to explain to you all of Naruto and myself... But where do I begin?"

Sarutobi rose his arm to signal that he wished to say something to Harry, and the wizard looked to him to listen.

"I believe it to be wise if you should first explain to us who you are and where you come from, exactly. At least to those who are not up to speed." he suggested.

Harry couldn't help but crack a slight smile at the grandfather of the village, being reminded of his own elderly mentor from a long, long time ago.

He began, "So you wish to learn of who I am; I will tell you now that I am flesh and blood in Naruto's body and appear as many of you do. But, I am not human... I haven't been _truly_ human for over one hundred years... I will allow some of you with questions to ask them, but _only_ when it is most appropriate to ask them and if they are not some pathetic excuse to wrongfully insult somebody. Agreed?" he inquired forcefully, earning nods from almost everyone in the room, except for Danzo who was still screaming despite the charm on his voice box having mute him completely.

Harry, pretending to have _just_ noticed this, said, "Oh, hold on. Let me fix that for you, Danzo. Here."

Harry flicked his wrist, keeping his pointer-finger stuck out and there was a flash of light. While Danzo still had his mouth wide and open he had accidentally yelled at the top of his lungs just as he was facing Homura. The other elder, immediately flew off his chair and cupped his now ringing and bleeding ear. Many people around the room chuckled or snorted in amusement while Harry snorted, satisfied that he accomplished a small dose of payback upon Danzo.

He quickly switched his expression to seem more like he meant to say, 'Oops!'.

"May I begin, now, please?" Harry asked.

Danzo and the hearing damaged Homura dusted themselves off, trying to reassert their dignity, and sat quietly.

"Right. Get comfortable, this is a long story." Harry cleared Naruto's throat and began the story of how he came into being; "Then I shall tell you my story... But first, can get a glass of water, please?"

Sarutobi looked puzzled but quickly had one of his ANBU fetch him one of the coffee pots filled with water and handed him a glassful.

"Thank you." he thanked the ANBU and Sarutobi, and drank the entire glass as if it were the first drink he ever had, droplets spilling on his face as he drank.

"Ahh~! How refreshing it is to actually drink something that's real..." he said with a satisfied sound in his voice, "Oh, I haven't had anything to drink or eat in over a hundred years, just so you know..."

_Born to Darkness, Part 1 by Elliot Goldenthal_

"Where was I? Oh yes... As you may have already guessed, my life ended over a hundred years ago, or at least it felt that long from my point of view... I was about eighteen years old at the time when I overexerted myself to death... But before I left behind my mortal existence, I lived in a standard sort of society. Only instead of the world being populated of shinobi, my society comprised of wizards."

Almost everyone in the room became wide-eyed at what he had said.

In the shinobi world, wizards and magic were almost considered pure fantasy. It was no wonder that everyone seemed so unbelieving.

"Yes. Wizards, humans _born_ with the ability to use and control supernatural powers." Harry assured, "They existed once, long ago. Everything was simpler back in my time. There; shinobi did not exist, they only lived in the realm of fantasy, just as magic is considered fantasy here. There was no chakra, no missing-nins, kunai were museum antiques, and scrolls were considered an _ancient_ way to reading information."

Harry went on about the basics of the wizarding world, including brief details of how the Ministries of Magic were founded, what Muggles were, and how the wizarding educational system had run (NOT including the age system or any of the restriction laws involving age). Everyone became so engaged and absorbed into what Harry was telling them.

No one could possibly make this stuff up on the spot, with how precise Harry had sounded. And never once stopping or stuttered to show he was making the slightest detail up.

"Magic, wizards, and spells soon became myths and stories in children's books. And while the muggles lived their lives, so did we. We attended school and learned to use and control our abilities to make a living for ourselves or to help contribute to the magical community and help run the underground government. Which is very similar to how this village functions as a society. But while there is good in the world, there is also evil. You all should know that not all wizards are good like me and Naruto. Some can go very bad... Dark wizards and witches came out of our kind, just like missing-nins and traitors do here. They lived their lives as criminals, to help only themselves and cause mayhem and destruction to both the magic and muggle worlds. But there was one wizard, in particular, who went beyond the normal levels of 'ordinary evil'."

The council couldn't help but feel as if slight shadow of dread fall upon them as Harry was describing this mystery person, conveniently just as the storm clouds began to fly over the skies above the building.

"There was one wizard in particular who lived before my own time. He, like any other young wizard, attended Hogwarts school, studied his subjects, and practiced his magic; but he grew up to become a an inhuman murderer... His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."

No one spoke.

"Riddle did have reasons for hating muggles. His muggle father of the same name abandoned his pregnant mother, after learning that she was a witch. After Riddle started attending school, he soon learned of his linage and sought out his father. When he found him, he murdered him and his entire family without leaving a trace of what he had done behind..."

Everyone was unmoving while hearing this.

"Riddle started to develop this superiority complex many snobbish wizarding families had for centuries; He began to believe that magical learning should only be kept within all-magic families. While those many of our kind came from muggle parentage, were all deemed untrustworthy and considered nothing more than filth. They believed muggles should be completely dominated and ruled by the magical world... After Riddle had graduated, he started to gather followers. He led them all down to the dark side of sorcery. And as they continued to follow him, they progressively grew more and more extreme and numerous."

Everybody raised their eyebrows at learning about the origin of the Death Eaters.

"After several years, Riddle had developed a massive army, consisting of witches, wizards, and a whole matter of dark creatures. They all moved as one, attacking and killing muggles and muggle-borns when they felt like it, kidnapping people for financial gain, even attacking their own kind in order to take over the wizarding world... Riddle underwent many magical transformations as his army continued to grow. He eventually transformed and became so terrifyingly, foul and cruel; he soon became known to the world by another name; the Dark Lord Voldemort. The most powerful dark wizard of all time."

All of those in the chamber, including the most stoic listeners, shivered at the sound of his name. No one could explain why it did so. It just happened. They all sat in their seats attentively listening to Harry's story, several of them wrote on whatever paper they could reach for, to write down what questions they wished to ask him later.

"Riddle made very successful progress with his takeover of the magical world as the years passed by. At one point, it seemed impossible to stop him and his army. Few of us even dared to stand up to him, because anyone who would dare to stand up to him ended up dead. Not even the Ministry of Magic could hope to stop him, he was far too powerful to be matched against... But that didn't stop people from fighting."

Harry mildly explained the Order of the Phoenix and how his parents helped fight against the Dark lord, and caught them up in regards of the prophecy involving him and Voldemort.

"Riddle feared the prophecy coming true, so he tracked me and my parents down for a year and finally found us. He killed my father and my mother who begged him to spare me, offering her life in exchange for mine. He refused, and killed her. He aimed his wand at me and performed the curse to kill me, but somehow, it failed and bounced back at him. He disappeared and wouldn't return for fourteen years. I survived but I didn't live unscratched."

Harry lifted his bangs with one hand and wiped Naruto's sweat from his forehead with the other, revealing a noticeable, lightning-bolt shaped scar. Everyone in the room gazed at it, mesmerized at the unique shape if they hadn't seen it on Naruto face and those that were not within Naruto's old group of secrecy were surprised to see the exact same scar on Harry's face, when they were used to seeing it on Naruto's forehead.

"I lived with this scar my entire life. While I lived my first life, it served as a warning to when Riddle was close by. And it was a mark of proof that the prophecy was true. It was a sign that I had to be the one to kill him in the end."

Harry's story, so far, seemed so unbelievable, everyone wanted to believe it was all a strange dream. But it wasn't. He was telling the absolute truth.

And what was more incredible; was that the entire council now _believed_ him, one-hundred percent.

"After many years of studying and training, I found his weakness and confronted him for one last time, out many different encounters I had with him. All of those, I barely escaped with my life intact... I fought him when I was about eighteen years old, and emerged as the victor and the savior of the magical world."

Those listening attentively, enjoyed listening to this unreal tale, and couldn't help but feel happy to hear this part of the story.

"I had won after eight long years of loss and hardship. I was finally free to live a long and happy life with my best friends and beautiful girlfriend... But if that's how it ended, I wouldn't be here right now would I...?"

Those mentioned earlier began to frown.

"No... I had died shortly after my victory... I died slowly in my lover, Ginny's, arms. I do remember hearing my best mate, Ron, crying as everything went dark and cold. I heard him begging to me, pleading for me to live... I heard the cries and sobs of the people surrounding me, realizing the inevitable... Their best medical experts and healers tried their best to revive me, but I was doomed before they even had a chance. There was nothing they could do to keep me alive... For I _was_ Fate's favored whipping boy..."

To everyone's surprise, Harry began to form tears at the corner of his eyes, and his voice began to strain with a lump that grew in his throat. The weather outside, ironically beginning to reflect his emotions, it steadily began to rain.

"I did not wish to die... I had so much more to live for... I didn't want to leave my family behind..."

Tears began to flow down Harry's cheeks, as he remembered the faces of his best friends and the woman he truly felt to be his soul-mate. He remembered how he despaired when he knew he would never see them again. And was then condemned to the world of the deceased, while his friends remain behind to mourn him.

"Ron... Hermione... Neville... Ginny... Luna... All of my precious friends... Oh, how I miss them all..." he wept, rubbing the tears off his face.

Now the audience and council (most of them), were fully convinced that this entity was _not_ an evil being nor was he a demon. For when does a demon ever weep in sadness?

Homura, still trying to hear out of his left ear again, lifted up his hand to ask Harry a question he had been meaning to ask, "What was it like to die...?"

Harry soon calmed down from his upsetting memories, and pushed them aside for now to answer the elder's question.

"It's very hard to say exactly..." he started, "I can't remember what I experienced to the perfect degree, but I will try my best..."

Everyone leaned forward to hear, no one making a sound. Never again would anyone in the room have another chance to learn the answer to that unanswered question.

"I remember feeling like I was falling asleep, only it was much faster and much easier than trying to sleep. Everything around me began to go black. The darkness that engulfed my vision was far more dense and deeper than anything I ever seen or felt before... Then, I was nowhere... Except I simply existed... I did feel naked though, and I knew pretty well that I was in neither Heaven nor Hell, and I didn't care either way. So long as no one saw me without any clothes on... I had no memory to recall of, and I had no knowledge of any kind to recollect. I did however grow bored of things, being dead and all. And decided I wanted to change things. I wished for the darkness around me to vanish, and with that thought alone the void had turned white to me... Soon, I grew bored of knowing nothing, so I wished to learn. And when I did wish that, books and scrolls filled with information ranging from basic human knowledge to everything related to the magical world, encircled me in endless circles. The information whizzed around me for the next one hundred years, wherein I absorbed all of the knowledge of every single detail of everything like I was some kind of sponge.

After my hundred-year long crash-course, I felt my entire being pulled forward by my navel and became detached from the realm of nothing and thrusted back into the world of the living once again, I'm sure... Only it wasn't the same world I had left behind... It was a new world entirely..."

Everyone must have realized that this must be the part of Harry's story where he comes into the picture of the world of shinobi.

"I remember being in the middle of the battle against the Kyuubi no Kitsune, thirteen years ago. I was not substantial quite yet, though. I was an invisible spirit to the human eye, floating in the middle of the battlefield. Soon my soul felt as if being pulled towards something again, and soon the source of this attraction had become abundantly clear; what had brought me back into the world of the living was none other than the newborn baby Naruto. As my spirit drew close to him, the fox was only _just_ beginning to be sucked into his body by the Yondiame Hokage's sealing jutsu. And instead of my soul overcoming Naruto's completely, I was sucked into his tiny body and I, in a way, became a residing being right next to his own soul. But I was still a separate entity trapped inside of Naruto's body, apart from the fox. And mine and Naruto's souls encircled each other, and in a way we were both one in the same person. You can always refer to me as another half of who Naruto is.

I became a part of him, as he became a part of me. And in our bondage, my genetic traits became infused with his and as a result, Naruto became a wizard. Which makes us spiritually related. In a way, you can consider him as my destined incarnation. Seeing as my soul attached to his body in particular apart every other living being on the face of the earth."

So in truth, Naruto was both a shinobi _and_ a wizard. The council was fascinated.

"My soul rested for several months before I began to explore my new domain. My memories hadn't caught up with me yet, but when they did, I decided to 'redecorate' my portion of the mindscape. After that, I discovered the Kyuubi's chamber down the 'hallway' of Naruto's mind. The Kyuubi was trapped within a massive cage, containing it completely. While the door of said cage was being held by a single paper labeled 'seal'. The cage looked very secure, but just to be one-hundred percent sure, I decided to bind the fox to the floor with magical seal chains and laced the cage's bars with a spell that would burn the fox if it dared to reach past the bars borders.

For the next boring, six years, I laid in my bedroom, wondering what my purpose is to be for an eternity. And I began to wonder if suicide were possible after you've already died, heh, just for laughs. But everything about my existence changed when I was disturbed by several voices yelling, 'demon!' and 'monster!'. I set out to investigate a few minutes later, and retired to my chambers, believing that I had simply imagined it. When I heard another voice coming from the corridor, I heard a voice. It was a child... crying... I noticed, when I left my chamber that the dark hallways, that had no visible ceiling, had began to poor down rain. I found it strange because the chambers never did that before that one particular day happened. I walked down the hall for a few moments when I came across the source of the heartbreaking sobs and weeping.

It was as I expected; a child. It was a boy, a young, blonde boy, who looked no older than four years old, crying. It was there, that I met Naruto Uzumaki for the very first time."

_Claudia's Allegro Agitato_ _by Elliot Goldenthal _(1:35 to 2:30)

"I saw him hugging his legs as if they were the only source of comfort he had, bawling his eyes out like a baby. My heart grieved and tore to shreds at witnessing such misery inflicted upon someone so young. My eyes even weld up tears upon looking at him... I felt a little fearful as well; Had he died at a young age and had no one to part to the afterlife with? Was he trapped here with me? These were all theories I came up with, not knowing who he was yet. If that were any of those cases, then I chose, either way, to reach out to him and hopefully connect to him.

I calmly made myself known and presented myself to him kindly, so as not to scare him. I then heard him say his name, Naruto, for the first time. I reached out to him, and when I touched him; And from the moment I did, I instantly knew everything about him. Every thought he ever had, every word he ever spoke, every _memory_ he had became mine as well. I pulled him into my arms and he bonded with me instantly. I suppose he must have felt a trust or parental familiarity towards me, since we shared the same body.

I then brought him out of the dark and slightly flooded corridor and into my chambers to rest. When he awoke, I explained everything I have told all of you so far. He was shocked to say the least, that I was a deceased spirit entrapped within his body. But he was very enthusiastic when I promised to teach him magic. And he was even more enthused when he asked me to become his 'Nii-san'. I happily agreed, and from that point on, I raised him as if he were my own. I taught him magic as well as refreshed him on whatever he learned at the Ninja Academy every night while he slept. I told him what he could and could not eat, I taught him the differences between right and wrong, scolded him for when he disobeyed me, and so on. To Naruto, I became what you can call a parent in your pocket."

The shinobi then became confused at this part of the story. If Naruto had Harry to help him learn, then why did he fail in most of his courses while at the Academy?

"While I cared for Naruto, I could only observe the shinobi world through his memories. It took me a while before I could simply view his environment from my bedroom in his mindscape, and observed his environment entirely. Awhile later, we learned to communicate using only our thoughts. These combined abilities allow me to learn in class _for_ him, while he dozed off or was distracted. Heh! That lazy ninja wannabe." he laughed tenderly.

And again, everyone, except for Iruka, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune all wondered and racked their brains. If all of this was true, then why didn't Naruto become rookie of the year if he had a hundred-something-year old wizard war-veteran to guide him?

"While Naruto slept or meditated at home, he would re-entered his mind, and I reviewed him on what was taught in class. The only difference was that I explained the lectures to him into simpler terms for him to understand. Heh! I remember how attentive and fascinated he was when he learned from me. I would normally manipulate objects in the rooms to re-enact battles of the past Ninja World Wars. Naruto always had a fascination for stories and history. He can learn practically anything, so long as he was interested in what he wants to be taught... It was a sad shame that I forbade him from excelling himself in the Academy. He could have done so much more..."

"What do you mean?" Sarutobi asked.

Harry sadly replied, "Naruto was never meant to be labeled as a 'dobe' at all... I had him intentionally sabotage his own grades to appear stupid."

"Why did you have him do that?" Kakashi asked with outrage in his voice.

Harry shot his head to the Jounin's direction, making direct eye contact, "I did it in order to protect him. You see, many of the Ninja Academy teachers, well, let's say that they were more _vindictive_ towards Naruto, because of the Kyuubi being inside of him."

The council looked out of ease at hearing this, for they had no idea that Naruto had any decent degree of intelligence. When the shinobi found out that Naruto was not as big an idiot as they assumed he was, they looked disappointed.

"All of the teachers _not including_ Iruka Umino, of course! Heheh! Sorry, if I hadn't clarified that earlier. Unlike the other teachers, Iruka did all that he could to help Naruto improve his grades." Harry ensured the council, apologizing to Iruka primarily, earning an appreciative smile from the trusted chunin.

"As I was saying, Naruto's previous teachers hardly lifted a finger to help him learn more. So in an act of desperation, I guided Naruto into the Academy's library, and 'borrowed' several scrolls on ninjutsu and shinobi history. We did eventually return all of them once we had them memorized. And in order for no one to suspect Naruto of the literary disappearances, I ordered him to act like the 'dumb student'." the wizard explained, earning shocked looks from the shinobi and outraged and unhappy looks from the civilians and Danzo.

"Then that means you committed theft! You-" Setsuna Haruno began to say to start an argument, but Harry stood from his seat to yell at Sakura's mother for trying to start something again.

"I _told you _that we _returned_ them! It's not stealing if you return what you took!" he yelled with Gryffindor-like authority, causing the Haruno woman to shut her mouth and sit back down.

Harry sat back down and continued his tale, "Just so you know Naruto was _very_ reluctant to act dumb, because he knew it would only lead him to hurt feelings, embarrassment, and torment from his fellow students. I witnessed the other students bullying him, calling him names and pushing him around as if he were a human punching bag. I'm all too familiar with the pain public school burdens you with. I remember going to muggle primary school, and being tormented and bullied every single day in and out because of my cousin Dudley... I could only watch as Naruto took all the rubbish this village put him through. The only outlet for all his suffering was when he fell asleep and re-entered my chambers. Where he would run into my embrace and sob for almost half an hour after every bad day... I was so amazed at how much self control he had for a wizard; Naruto was gifted with the ability to torment and enslave the entire village if he desired to, and yet he resisted the temptation and came out the better person in the end. Plus, he was too afraid to perform magic unless it were absolutely essential."

One civilian, foolishly said, "Why would such a cry-baby be so afraid to show off?"

Harry grew even more angry with how stupid and unsympathetic this council really was, his anger grew so powerful that it began to thunder outside a little, "If _you_ knew he were a wizard you'd call for his death!"

Everyone, including Sarutobi felt pretty intimidated at Harry's aggression, "Naruto was _terrified_ to expose himself! Don't you understand? I remember after I taught him about the Medieval wizarding history, when muggles (being fearful and hateful toward magic) would hunt down and capture wizards and witches and have them publicly executed. I remember Naruto would wake up, in the middle of the night, _screaming_ himself awake from nightmares of him being tied to a post and being burnt alive in front of _hundreds_! He had every _right_ to be scared to use magic, when he could have easily used it as payback against his aggressors." he got out, and then sighed trying to calm himself.

After a few minutes, elder Koharu decided to ask a question,

"What about after he graduated? Was he ever caught performing witchcraft? How did any of these people learn of any of this?" she asked pointing towards Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Iruka.

Harry sighed again, frustrated that no one yet referred to Naruto's wizardry, as wizardry at all, "First of all, Naruto never performed 'witchcraft'. He's a boy not a girl, you idiots. It's just called magic."

The council felt a little awkward, not realizing that there were gender differences when it came to magical categorization.

"Second of all, Naruto usually didn't use magic that much until after he graduated. Not even during the mission with the client bridge-builder Tazuna. He didn't start regularly using magic until he had crafted his wand with my assistance sometime in the middle of last summer"

The ears of the council members perked up at the mention of a magic wand and realized that they already knew this once Sasuke had mentioned having seen Naruto wielding a thin, wooden conductor.

Harry continued, "But for your question on when one of the witnesses learnt of my existence, I do have an answer."

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka, and Shizune looked a little bit nervous as they were now officially being referenced in the meeting. They all accepted the fact that sooner of later they would be caught with what they knew. But cared very little if they were ever punished, for their love for the blonde teen proved that the risk was more than worth it. But they were also nervous because they all swore to secrecy and if they told the truth, they feared that this would have broken the disclosure agreement they each agreed to.

"Naruto was eventually caught talking to me out loud, first by Iruka Umino. It happened shortly after Team 7's mission to the Land of Waves when Iruka thought something was wrong with him."

Kakashi's eyes immediately widened in shock. He was _there_ the day that had happened. Earlier that same day last year, he was told by the Sandiame Hokage to keep an extra eye on Naruto's behavior after Sarutobi was told of his brief Kyuubi-possession incident on the mission during the fight with Haku. Kakashi saw Naruto being chased by Iruka in the forest near the park, and discovered upon Iruka's capture of Naruto, that the blonde was clearly upset about the incident in Wave. But after a few short minutes, the problem was resolved and everything was fine.

'_But how? They only talked for, like what, five minutes_?' Kakashi asked himself in confusion.

Iruka stood up to help explain what happened that day, "I was looking for Naruto that day to see him after his first C-Ranked mission success and invite him to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate. I found him going into the woods by himself, making sure he wasn't followed. I got worried, so I followed him. He unknowingly led me into a small open meadow." Iruka hesitated, "I hid behind the forest line and saw him talking to himself. I feared that the Kyuubi was trying to trick him and I panicked. Naruto saw me, and assumed the worst when I took a step back in caution. He tried to run away in fear that I might abandon him. So I chased after him and barely managed to calm him down. Naruto then passed out in stress I suppose, and Kakashi appeared, having noticed me going after Naruto. But before he could explain what happened on the mission, Naruto came to and asked that he and I speak alone. After Kakashi had gone to give us time to talk, Naruto begged for me to trust him when I asked him to open up to me. I agreed, trusting him and, uh... Well, I guess Harry should explain what happened next?"

Harry nodded to Iruka, understanding that he did not want to break his promise to Naruto, to not tell anyone what he saw.

Harry continued for him, "Naruto and I had an argument when he passed out, and after a bit of reasoning, I had no choice but to agree and trust Iruka with our secret. So I had Naruto connect his mind with Iruka's, and _literally_ drew him into my chambers within our mind."

Everyone gasped, surprised at learning that a wizard can be just as powerful as a user of Sharingan like Itachi Uchiha and bring someone within their own head. Danzo, however, looked very threatened and intrigued at the wizard's power.

"When Iruka awoke inside my domain, I introduced myself, and to be totally honest, he... Heh! Let's just say that Iruka reacted quite reasonably when you wake up in the house of a dead young man. Heheh!" the wizard laughed, remembering how freaked out Iruka was.

_Flashback_

"How do I put this, Umino-san? Uh, welcome to Naruto's mind." Harry smiled

Iruka remained silent and blank faced for a while before, "WHAAAAAAA?"

_End Flashback_

"First impressions are never usually accurate, heh!" Harry chuckled, "So basically I told him what I just told you all know now. After that, Iruka proved himself to be very trustworthy to me. But I warned him, to never repeat of what he had learned to anyone, in order to protect Naruto. He kept his promise, and he, Naruto and myself grew more close than ever before. Since then, Iruka provided Naruto and I with a small amount of useful tools that contributed to Naruto's career as a shinobi. Including several scrolls about chakra control." Harry winked towards Iruka, earning a small smile from him.

"But everything began to change when the Chunin Exams came to turn several months later. That was the time when Naruto and I began to lose control over our secrecy. In Naruto's First Exam, he used a spell to steal the answers from Ibiki Morino's copy of the test paper during the writing portion of the test. Before that, Naruto caught the scent of the serpent coming from Kabuto Yakushi and the late Otogakure genin team. Naruto was able to smell out this scent, because I used to be a Parselmouth, a person who has or once did have the ability to converse with snakes. At least I did before I first died. Naruto must have inherited a mild trace of my old ability. He wrote his suspicions about Kabuto and the Sound nins down on his exam paper to warn the higher authority I believe, correct?"

Sarutobi's eyes opened wide at this: Ibiki _did_ report this exam to him, and later questioned Naruto about it before the prelims of the Third Exam. The answer he got was that Naruto smelled snakes coming from Kabuto, nothing more, nothing less. What else had Naruto been hiding from him?

"When Naruto and his teammates entered the Forest of Death for their second Exam, is where all this madness began. I believe you are all aware of the assault by Orochimaru, am I right?"

The council nodded. And he turned to Sarutobi with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but Naruto lied to you about what happened in the Forest of Death. He told you that he used the Kyuubi's chakra against Orochimaru, resulting in another containment seal being thrown on top of his normal one, and Uchiha being infected with a Curse Mark of Heaven. That part is true, but what was _not_ told to you was that Naruto passed out from Orochimaru's Five-Prong Seal, and in a desperate act, I continued to fight against Orochimaru, using Naruto's body. If I had been fast enough, I could've defeated the snake bastard and prevented the curse mark from forming on Uchiha's neck. Although I failed to destroy him, I didn't leave the bastard unscratched. I managed to put an incredibly powerful Bad-Luck Curse on him. Which I believe, is the reason _how_ you survived in your fight against him later during the invasion. And it would also explain his lack of finesse and physical prowess in your fight. Does that explain things a lot more, Hokage-sama?"

It did make sense. This explained how Orochimaru's resurrected forms of the First and Second Hokage's deteriorated in mid-battle due to Sarutobi always somehow being one step ahead of his one-time pupil. This earned Sarutobi his victory over his old student, but also resulted in Orochimaru managing to injure him severely enough to require Tsunade's help.

* * *

"With the Snake Sannin gone, I stunned Sakura Haruno and rewrote both hers and Sasuke's memories of me fighting. I then transported them all to the Tower in the Forest. When we arrived Iruka was there waiting, being Team 7's messenger. He then helped me get the kid's proper help. From there, I relinquished my control over Naruto. Ever since Orochimaru meddled with the seal, Naruto's chakra system was unstable, making the most simple of chakra controls more difficult than what he was capable of. Thus, why he had displayed such unimpressive martial art prowess during the Third Exam's Preliminary match's. But then there was another incident that risked Naruto's delayed exposure to the world. Hayate Gekko, a good past friend of Naruto's had accidentally discovered our secret and became the second person to join the secrecy. For the month that ensued Hayate had Naruto trained in the art of swordsmanship. But unfortunately, he was killed by an assassin from Otogakure no Sato. Naruto was left devastated by his death..."

Kakashi stared unbelievably and berated himself for having been so rude to Naruto at Hayate's funeral, _'How could I not know about this? Kakashi, you idiot!'_

"Thankfully, during the month of the Chunin Selection Exams, Hokage-sama was kind enough to call out for Jiraiya to help repair the damage seal. And Jiraiya also took the liberty of training Naruto for the Finals, because a _certain someone_ disappeared without a trace, and didn't bother telling him where he was going and why." Harry reminded rather harshly.

The masked shinobi hung his head in shame as he remembered.

"A little while after the invasion of the village of Suna and Otogakure, Jiraiya took us along to retrieve Lady Tsunade and help heal the wounded Sandiame. When we rested at a hotel somewhere in the town of Pleasure Avenue, we _did_ have a little run-in with Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, the agents of the Akatsuki."

Everyone blinked at this and Sarutobi shook his head and checked his ear in case he didn't hear correctly, and asked, "I'm sorry, I must not have heard that right. _Who_ did you run into and _why_?"

Jiraiya suddenly looked terrified and tried to signal Harry to shut up and disregard what he said, making threatening gestures of profane violence with his hands.

Harry ignored this and continued talking, "Kisame and Itachi of the Akatsuki, the organization of S-Ranked criminals on a mission to capture all of the tailed-demon containers, and possibly bring about a total takeover or destruction of the world as we know it... Why? Weren't you all caught up to speed on that?" Harry asked in a pleasant, innocent manner.

Everyone was completely silent until finally saying all together, "**NO**!"

Jiraiya face palmed himself in the face and the council got back into an argument once again, while Harry sat down in his chair and whistled _'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'_ to himself.

* * *

_Secrets of the Castle by John Williams_

Everything was chaos for the next few minutes as Jiraiya had to explain his knowledge of the Akatsuki, earning several death-glares from Sarutobi for not informing him. The Hokage then decided that they discuss the matter after this meeting was over. And as soon as everyone was calmed down, they allowed Harry continue his story,

"As I was saying; Like any reasonably smart wizard his age, Naruto Disapparated and waited for them to disappear,"

"What does Dis-app-ara-" Chouza Akimichi tried to pronounce correctly.

Harry sighed again, "To Disapparate means to disappear and reappear somewhere else instantaneously, that requires a large amount of mental concentration to accomplish. Try thinking of an even more convenient Shushin no Jutsu and there's Apparation."

The council was even more fascinated at Harry's story by now and wrote down what interesting facts they could look into later.

"When we found Tsunade, we quarreled with Orochimaru and his assistant, Kabuto. Proving our suspicions of Kabuto to be true, that he was working for a serpent. When Naruto defeated Kabuto in the fight, he was briefly distracted by his victory, and Orochimaru took this opportunity to eliminate Naruto with his sword, Kusanagi, by piercing his lung. In order to prevent Naruto from dying I put all of my strength into healing, and thankfully Tsunade unknowingly assisted me. When Naruto's body awoke, it was my conscience that was in control. I must have put too much of my magic into healing Naruto's wound to the point where I accidentally possessed him again. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune immediately noticed Naruto's eyes were my green ones, and went on alert. I calmed them down in order to explained myself, and for the next several hours. And in time, I gained their trust, and they obtained mine as well. The two Sannin and Shizune, soon grew to care for Naruto as much as Iruka and myself cared for him. And were therefore, more than willing to help protect him by keeping our secret.

Jiraiya, despite the argument earlier, smiled at the memories of him and Naruto as they traveled the entire country together. He also smiled at how proud he felt when he realized that Naruto was so gifted.

"But this soon began to spiral out of our control. We never planned on letting this many people know about us. With more people knowing of our truth only risked our exposure to the world. And now that fear has become a reality. Our shared life had been severely jeopardized by Sasuke, who I've got to say has a pole stuck up so far up his arse, it should come out through his mouth and reach the stars."

Setsuna Haruno became estranged yet again, "Don't you dare insult the Uchiha!"

Kakashi about to shut her up, but Harry beat him to it.

"Or what? It's because of that _bastard child_, that my baby brother was almost murdered! That power-crazed _looney_ almost cost the lives of other shinobi as well, in case you forgotten!"

Setsuna's husband came to her defense, "You and that demon are-"

"YOU DARE CALL MY NARUTO-CHAN A DEMON?" Harry roared at the couple, frightening them. "You yourself and many others are acting more like _monsters_ by going out of your way to do him in. You also fail to realize that the Uchiha with his curse mark and lust for power _literally_ turned him into _demon_ at the Valley! He called upon the curse mark's power to completely cover him, and turned himself into what you _should_ be calling a demon-child. His skin, hair, and body all turned demonic at the Valley, he even grew _wings_ on his back, which would explain the rips in the back of his shirts lately, huh?" Harry ended with the question, leaving the council speechless when they were reminded of the Curse Marks unholy gifts."

The council turned mute and Harry continued.

"That _precious_ Uchiha of yours was absolutely _ruthless_ to Naruto; He tied him to a rock and tried to burn him alive, thrusted a Chidori through his bloody chest, beat his head into a rock, and you still choose his side?"

The council and others were surprised and repulsed at how detailed Harry explained the fight.

"What shocks me, what _truly_ shocks me is that you can look at Naruto, who has worked since day one to help this village with his good ambitions, bravery and his immeasurable loyalty. And has suffered at the hands of this village, brought on by you fat-arsed civilians... and just not care... It's truly _pathetic_, that you are _this_ blind and would go, out of your way, to make his life so miserable. All because you think that he's the Kyuubi in human form... Well let me ask you all this; if Naruto were truly the Kyuubi incarnate, wouldn't he have killed you all now, with all the power Kyuubi is said to wield, human or fox...?"

Everyone was left speechless for the umpteenth time after his rant, unable to excuse themselves for what has happened to the blonde after all these years.

"The Yondiame Hokage would be ashamed at what some of you had done and let happen." Harry said grimly.

He waited for a few minutes to let his words sink in, and he sighed, "Well, I suppose that is it. That's everything I can explain to you all... Naruto may be a wizard, but I can assure all of you, that he will not turn his back to this village. Nor will he ever use his powers for any evil intent, whatsoever. That's how I've raised him to be._ It is never our abilities that define us for who we truly are, it is our choices._"

Harry's words cut deep into the minds of the people around him.

Some few civilians still held true to their beliefs on Naruto. Danzo in particular, still upset at being humiliated by the wizard earlier, did not change his ideals about Naruto or Harry.

Then Sarutobi asked the question everyone had been wanting to ask, "What is it that you want, Potter-san?"

Harry looked at the Hokage, with earnest eyes, "Naruto and I only wish to live, nothing else."

Danzo reserved himself carefully and decided to start what he wanted to do to the Jinchuuriki, and spoke out charismatically, "Very well... Before we do that, we will have to study you and Naruto a little bit further. We will have to schedule an analysis in and chemical testing on you two in Lab-"

"Absolutely not." Harry growled at Danzo threateningly, "There will be no _experimentation_ done on _my_ brother, Danzo-_sama_."

He spoke out with emphasis on the sama bit. As if he were questioning Danzo's seat of authority. He and Naruto hadn't forgotten about what they heard Danzo say to one of his soldiers. He desired to destroy Naruto.

"What was that?" the old war-hawk questioned.

"There is no _need_ for any analysis, I'm sure." Harry insisted forcefully, leaking a tiny bit of his own killing intent, that made everyone forcefully shiver as if the room had dropped several degrees.

Danzo was strangely unaffected and said with unfitting authority, "It is in the best intentions, for the sake of the village, that a proper investigation should be put into this 'magic' the two of you have."

Harry rebuked his intentions, "I don't think so."

"Why the hell not?" the war hawk demanded.

"If you intend to learn of all of our secrets, you may as well _steal_ the secrets of the other shinobi clans, in order to even the score. Magic is a genetic trait, that is passed down from one generation to the next and has it's own secrets, not very different from how a Kekkei Genkai is used and passed down and kept secret. What else do you think you should know about us?"

Danzo hesitated, unable to make a rebuttal quick enough.

"Beside's, I told you all everything that you _need_ to know. The only reason why I chose to possess Naruto's body, is so I can prove to you all that neither I nor Naruto wish any harm to the village. _And_ I'm doing this to ensure Naruto will be safe from harm from the village. If I hadn't intervened, you all might have done the worst to him."

Harry stood up and looked at everybody in the room.

"Co-existence is my _only_ intention to you all... That is, to all of you with the shared common sense as myself, Iruka, the late Hayate Gekko, Sandiame-sama, and the Sannin here..." Harry reasoned, growing tired of arguing with this megalomaniac.

"Unacceptable." Danzo insisted, refusing to listen to Harry's reasoning.

Then Sarutobi began to get _pissed_ at Danzo's spontaneous meddling, "That is _not_ your decision to make, _Danzo_! It is _my_ decision, as the Hokage, to determine the fates of Naruto as well as Sasuke. And speaking of Sasuke... I am very sure that he will not be loyal to the village after everything that has happened. Had he been a _true friend _and comrade, he would _not_ have sold Naruto out to save himself so cowardly. If he were to be granted freedom (which he does not deserve) he will most assuredly betray us all again. The punishment will remain the same as it should."

Another civilian spoke out, regardless of the previous fact that they had no say in shinobi affairs, and voiced Sasuke's importance.

"No! Sasuke Uchiha is the only person in this village who _truly_ possesses the Sharingan. Sending him to prison will not repopulate his clan or the Sharingan _healthily_!"

"The Uchiha clan is not the most important thing to this village!" Sarutobi said, absolutely _tired_ of hearing the villagers talk about nothing else but the Uchiha clan.

Danzo spoke out to support the civilians, but with _actual reason_ in his argument this time, "The Sharingan is still a very _valuable_ weapon to the village. Beside's Hokage-sama, perhaps _maybe_ we can _help_ Sasuke, instead of punish him. Might I suggest that we send him to the Land of Fire's National Ninja Rehabilitation Clinic?" Danzo presented calmly.

Sarutobi's eye's widened in realization, as Danzo continued, "If we send Sasuke there, he can interact with other attendees from our village that he can relate to. He will be in a very open environment, that is healthy for him. He can let loose his pent up aggression, frustration, and hopefully his blood-lust will be forgotten in the time he spends there. And hopefully he will return to the village more loyal and corrected than ever before."

Everyone except Kakashi, Iruka, Shizune, the Sannin, Harry, and the clan leaders looked accepting to this 'alternative punishment'.

"It's a win-win situation on both ends, Sarutobi. _Naruto_ will be out of harms way (regardless of how much I wouldn't want that) and Sasuke will be away from harm, learning to rejuvenate himself and create a stronger desire to stay here with us and away from Orochimaru... With luck, he could forget his vengeance all together, but that _is_ a stretch to say so soon. Besides, we wouldn't want to give him a reason to _hate_ the village do you, Hiruzen?"

Sarutobi, suddenly, looked remorseful and defeated, thinking of something only the elders had any knowledge about.

"... Perhaps... you might actually be right with this decision..."

Sarutobi shocked the rightful minds of the people of in the chamber as another low boom of thunder was heard, "But we shall discuss Sasuke later... Right now, we must deal with Potter-san and Naruto."

Danzo smiled slightly as he thought, _'If I cannot destroy Uzumaki now, I shall bide my time. So I can help Sasuke learn to control himself well enough, and have him do it for me. Heheh, he and I are so very much alike...' _

Sarutobi looked over to Harry in the center chair, ready to decide what he should do for Naruto a long, long time ago. For far too long, has he not done enough to protect the boy during his childhood. Now, he felt he must do what he felt was right, and correct what he had failed to do for the boy he loved as his first grandson.

He cleared his throat and said, "Harry Potter, I understand what it is that you want for your brother and yourself, and after listening to you today, I must agree."

"Hokage-sama, we don't think this is-" one still vindictive civilian tried to stop,

"You will be silent! They have done nothing wrong, and do not intend to do any such thing in the future." Sarutobi insisted.

"Having a sorcerer as an asset to the village would be most wise. Instead of having a Sharingan wielder with a history of treason, we have a loyal and very powerful wielder of an extraordinary art from another world." said Shibi Aburame, speaking for the very first time in the entire meeting.

The other members of the shinobi council could not deny Shibi's logic. And the civilians could not decide on anything, and after seeing how angry Sarutobi got when something was kept from him, they would not even dare to try and work behind his back ever again.

Sarutobi glanced across both ends of the table. Everything had been taken care of to his satisfaction. Everyone knew all they needed to know, and thankfully every shinobi accepted Naruto despite his newly discovered abnormality. Proving that the Will of Fire burned white hot in the hearts of his village shinobi. Though it did not hold true to the civilians or Danzo.

"It is decided," Sarutobi informed, "From this day forth, I am stating a newly enforced law: Naruto Uzumaki and his spiritual companion Harry Potter are now under the protection of Konohagakure no Sato. Should Naruto or Harry or anyone who kept Naruto's secret be harmed or mistreated in any way, shape, or form, including the persons Iruka Umino, Jiraiya, Tsunade, or Shizune, will be punished by means of life imprisonment or execution. Depending on how severe whatever harm is done. And don't think I will not find anyone who breaks this law, I will find any of you, even if you hide, disguise yourself, or even leave the village. You can bet on it." Sarutobi threatened the civilians in particular.

Harry stood up to bid his ague for now, and gave Danzo a present from him personally.

"Before I go for now, I would like to say something." Harry announced, everyone turning his attention to him.

Harry turned to Danzo, "Danzo. I took you're behavior towards my brother with a grain of salt from the moment I had to put up with you," Harry said with a fake tone of kindness in his voice, as he began to rant smartly, "As I had to listen to your irritating remarks and immature indifference's towards us, I have decided to stop _dumping_ the salt onto my attitude towards you, and _all together _chose an _alternative_ way to deal with you, if I ever have to again. And here it is:"

Harry then flicked his wrist, and suddenly, a zipper appeared, attached to Danzo's mouth, completely zipped up.

Panicking, Danzo tried tugging and pulling the zipper off his face with his only arm. Not having the common sense to pull the zipper open. He struggled in his chair and almost fell off of it and to the floor painfully.

"If you want Cyclops here to shut up, feel free to ask me or Naruto anytime you want."

Sarutobi and the rest of the shinobi in the chamber chuckled and snorted at Harry's jinx, realizing it to be a joke. But the civilians and Danzo were not in the least bit amused, not to mention frustrated beyond belief at the fact that they could no longer do anything. Harry then flicked his wrist again and the zipper vanished. Danzo could breath again, but due to his old age, and being denied from breathing for awhile, found himself too exhausted to roar in outrage. And instead chose to glare at Harry/Naruto with pure hatred for this humiliation.

(A/N: Please don't be too distracted by this, I thought since some of you guys want Danzo to have justice served to him, I decided to force it down his throat.)

* * *

Harry now became serious once again as soon as the hilarity of his brief antics died away, "Thank you Hokage-sama. But this cautious, unwelcoming environment might never allow Naruto the freedom you promise. Several of the people in this room, have gone out of their way to condemn this poor child-victim into more suffering and maltreatment. And for what reason? Because he is different? Because he is a Jinchuuriki? Or does it simply give the villagers some sweet satisfaction to inflict harm upon an innocent human being?" He primarily asked the civilians.

"If you all could be so kind as to leave us be, not bother us for magic, we'd greatly appreciate it. And we shall leave you alone, too." he put out, "I'm fully aware at what Naruto and I are capable of doing, but we choose not to abuse our power. For we do not wish to become the monsters, which you so wish to accuse of us of being. Isn't that right?

Harry questioned, getting no answer, "... I would advise you all to not step further than your boundaries given, and we shall not step beyond ours. Danzo and you civilians;"

Harry glared right into Danzo's only good eye and gave him a look that hinted that he knew what he intended to do to his little brother and made the old man open his eye a little bit as if he could read his mind, "I should warn you all that I'm not one to offer second chances..."

Harry faced the rest of the council and then said, "Farewell."

Harry concluded his communications, feeling that his mission was a success and his facial features began to revert back into Naruto's by turning into multi-colored dust and evaporating into nothing. Naruto's blonde hair, blue eyes, and tan skin all returned back to normal. Harry's temporary control over Naruto had ended, causing Naruto to fall back into his seat softly. His eyes turned back into blue, showing the blonde was back in control of his body. Harry's memories of the meeting soon became Naruto's, with the help of one of Harry's spells, as Sarutobi began to finally concluded this agonizingly long meeting that lasted for several hours.

"Huh?" Naruto moaned as the memories flooded into his brain and he returned to reality.

"From this day forth, I shall now declare that magic is an official Kekkei Genkai of our village, Konohagakure no Sato. I myself will fully evaluate Naruto's capabilities as a wizard, and will schedule an appointment to test his levels of prowess and strength in his magic. And it will be fully registered into the shinobi program. Furthermore, no discriminative behavior can be inflicted upon Naruto or anybody that has any relations to him, both alive and deceased. That is my final word on this subject for today. Anyone who wants to say so otherwise, can keep their mouth shut about it and kiss my keister."

Naruto heard all of this, breathing with difficulty at the reality of what had happened. The civilians made their ways out through the side doors of the chamber. While the shinobi were still in their chairs, trying to figure out how to explain this to their friends, family and colleagues. Sarutobi looked over towards Naruto, with caring concern in his face and eyes at seeing his blonde grandson struggling to keep himself on his chair.

"Naruto-kun, will you want some help getting back to the hospital?" he offered kindly.

But Naruto didn't hear him. He could barely even think straight. His secret had just been made known to the council, it was only a matter of minutes before the entire village would find out about him.

The only thing that went through his mind, caused him to react the second he thought it: Run.

_Born to Darkness, Part 2 by Elliot Goldenthal_

He jumped out of his seat without his much needed crutches and sprinted away from the council and his family.

Iruka, Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and Sarutobi all reached out towards the fleeing blonde and cried in unison, "Naruto, NO! WAIT!"

But the blonde did not listen as the double-door entrance magically slammed open for him. He ran down the halls so quickly, the pictures on the walls all blended together in a single color. The final set of doors opened for him, as he ran outside and into the forests, as a terrible thunderstorm commenced. He ignored Harry's voice, telling for him to stop as he kept running into the forests. He wanted nothing more than to run away from his problems before it could get any worse. And just never stop running.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**THAT-WAS-LONG! 28 pages on Microsoft Works Word Processor. And took almost a full month to write in my free time when I'm not studying, without my beta reader.**

**I'm sorry if it seems pretty repetitive at times or anything but there you have it, Chapter 5. Exposition.**

**Wanna hear something funny? While I wrote some of this, I was actually watching the extended version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on ABC Family, starting at the Quidditch World Cup scenes. Lol! I thought it would help drive me. And it worked, too.**

**Next Time: Will Naruto's teachers and friends be able to catch him? Who knows?**

**So until next time, Reviews Please!**


	6. Hospital Again

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah'**_: Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Sorry for the delay again, folks. My beta reader took forever to get me back my manuscript. This should have come out last week, but oh well. There's nothing more for me to say here, so here you go!**

* * *

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

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_Ron Leaves by Alexandre Desplat_

Naruto kept running through the forest as fast as his legs could possibly go. The weather had grown worse now, rain splashed onto his clothes and face mercilessly. And lightning flashed every few seconds and thunder boomed loudly overhead.

Naruto ran through bushes and ferns, not bothering to run down any clear path in sight. The plants he ran through tore up his wet orange jumpsuit to shreds, but he didn't care in the least bit.

Harry spoke out to Naruto in a low tone, '_**Naruto.**' _

Naruto didn't answer him, because horrific images began to plague him ruthlessly. Painful memories of his childhood flashed before his eyes along with the lightning that flashed up in the sky. With every flash of lightning, another bad memory resurfaced in his brain. The public shunning and humiliation, the constant torment, the numerous people who had abandoned him which in turn haunted him. Next he saw Hayate's corpse, dementors, and then finally, one peculiar flash of lightning he saw a cursed Sasuke with a Chidori chirping madly in his hand. In a twitch and cringe of fright, Naruto lost his balance and tripped into the muddy earth painfully.

Trembling in pain, he pulled himself off the slippery ground and kept on running.

Harry's voice was raised higher, '_**Naruto, stop it!**'_

But Harry's words fell on deaf ears as Naruto continued to run, much slower now that his clothes were heavy with water and he was missing one of his sandals, stepping painfully onto branches and thorns.

'_**Naruto! Stop it right now, god-dammit!**'_ he yelled.

"No!" Naruto yelled aloud.

Harry sensed the physical pain Naruto began to feel in his legs and urged to him, _'**You're still not fully healed! If you push yourself too much, you could die! Stop it right now!**'_

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled out as he limped past the trees.

'_**Where are you planning to go, huh? Where?**' _Harry argued.

"A place where no one will ever find me. Anywhere is better than here!" he shouted.

'_**Naruto, don't do this, you can't even Apparate right now! You don't have to go anywhere. Everything will be okay.**_' he tried to comfort his little brother.

"No it won't!" Naruto wailed, "Our life is finished! It's ruined! Everything we worked for-gone!"

_

* * *

_Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka, and Kakashi chased after Naruto desperately, fearing he would do something horrible to himself. They zoomed through the trees and darted their eyes in all directions to catch a glimpse of their Naruto. Several ANBU followed them in pursuit, but the latter soon dismissed them and told them that they had it covered. Once the ANBU had stopped in their tracks, the group pursuing Naruto began to get desperate and tried to reach Naruto with their voices.

"Naruto, please wait!" Kakashi beckoned desperately.

"Naru-chan, come back! It's okay!" Iruka cried.

"Otou-otou, wait!" Shizune called.

"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE, OR SO HELP ME, YOU'LL GET IT!" Tsunade roared like a dinosaur.

They all searched high and low for their favorite blonde in the direction he took off and didn't stop for over twenty-five minutes. They searched until they all sensed his chakra signature up ahead and sped off, Iruka _surprisingly_ in the lead.

* * *

Naruto dragged his damaged body through the monstrous, heavy rain, absolutely exhausted. His legs may as well have been lit on fire with the pain and turned into solid iron as he felt pain surging inside them. Naruto's infamous orange jumpsuit was now shred beyond repair as he plowed right though bushes and wild plants. Large holes and long rips were lined all over his final ridiculous jumpsuit, exposing some of his still bandaged skin. The teen dragged his tiring body through the trees as his vision began to fail him again and turn his world dark.

"Gotta-get-outta-he-re-" Naruto panted in exhaustion.

His body could no longer enabled him to run, he could barely even push himself to walk without his much needed crutches. He tried to grab hold of a tree branch to pull himself forward, but then he collapsed onto the ground and into a pile of mud. Naruto tried lifting his head up with what little strength he had left and saw the remains of the forest fade away and his face fell back into the mud. And there he fell, completely unconscious.

**'**_**Naruto!**'_

* * *

The search group swept the trees, their eyes shooting everywhere possible, desperately looking for Naruto. Kakashi darted his head and searched frantically for his lost student. He had even removed his headband from over his eye in the hopes that his Sharingan eye could possible help him out in spotting the faintest trace of Naruto's chakra signature. But to his misfortune, the Sharingan probably wouldn't enable him to see Naruto at all, due to the fact that the boy's chakra was almost completely drained from his body. Shizune, as she jumped from tree to tree, got her chakra flowing and ready to heal or diagnose Naruto at a moment's notice. Tsunade did the same thing, only it was much easier for her, due to her numerous years of past emergency experience and her unnaturally powerful healing abilities. Iruka looked down as he jumped off from a thick tree branch, as he spotted Naruto's orange, unconscious body face down in the mud.

"I found him!" he called to everyone else.

He jumped down from tree to tree until he landed gracefully on the ground. Shizune and Kakashi landed nearby him, and Tsunade followed in tow. Iruka ran over to Naruto's side and carefully picked up his limp form easily and cradled his smaller body close to him to provide his brotherly comfort.

"I gotcha now... Aniki is here... It's okay, Naruto..." Iruka said despite himself.

Shizune rushed forward with a glowing green hand, and placed it on Naruto's exposed forehead and performed her diagnosis jutsu. Her shiny, beetle-black eyes were closed in concentration and a few seconds later she spoke.

"He's just passed out from exhaustion. He doesn't have any superficial wounds, just a few scratches and a few reopened minor lacerations. He'll be okay." she assured the recovery group.

Tsunade closed her eyes and said something under her breath that sounded as if she had no doubt in her mind that Naruto was permanently damaged. Kakashi gave a heavy sigh and so did Iruka. Shizune removed her hand from Naruto's exposed forehead and looked over at Iruka.

"He'll be just fine, so long as we get him out of this storm really fast. This heavy rain and low temperatures isn't doing his body any good at the moment." she said.

Tsunade called, "Take him to the hospital right away."

Kakashi took this as his cue and approached Iruka to take Naruto back himself. He calmly reached his hand out and started to say, "I'll take him to-"

And then swiftly, Iruka whacked Kakashi's outreached arm away with surprising strength. Recoiling, Kakashi looked up and saw Iruka give him the nastiest, hateful death-glare he had ever seen the young man express. Kakashi couldn't deny, yet again, that he did feel _very_ intimidated to be at the fixated point of Iruka's unspoken anger. Iruka's pupils had turned tiny with livid rage, and that alone made him looked nothing short of a terrifying monster.

"_Haven't you done enough to him_?" Iruka stated coldly, as if Kakashi were to blame for all this.

He held Naruto closer to him, protectively away from the Copy Ninja. Tsunade suddenly appeared in between the two men in order to prevent any possible hostility to break out between them.

She looked at Iruka, grasping his full attention, "Iruka, _you_ take Naruto back to the hospital, then."

The chunin nodded in understanding, Tsunade looking more sad than authoritative now, "Can you also stay with him until he wakes up? It looks like Harry failed at trying to calm him down. I'm sure he's very upset and I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now."

Iruka nodded again, looking down at Naruto and saw tears mixed with rain on the young blonde's miserable-looking face.

"You don't have to tell me twice, ma'am." Iruka responded with a tone of sadness in his voice.

He then turned back to the village and Shushined away with Naruto securely in his arms, Shizune and Tsunade decided to walk back to take everything that had happened in and figure out how to adjust to the changes they knew would happen. Kakashi, however, stood alone in the rain, down trot at the fact that he barely did a thing to help his poor student. What's worse, he felt that deep down in his heart that he could have prevented this whole thing from even happening, had spoken against Danzo when he sent those two ANBU to bring him to the courts.

'_What is wrong with me?' _he grieved sadly.

Feeling depressed, he slowly walked back to the Memorial Stone in the heavy downpour of rain. In order to think and process everything he experienced and learnt on that day, and share his new memories with his deceased loved ones.

* * *

_The Magic Anthem by Jeremy Soule  
_

Somewhere far away in the mountains of the far west, in the center of a giant field that was surrounded by a pine tree forest, there stood a massive oval-shaped Quidditch pitch. The tall stands surrounding the pitch were draped in colors of black, white, scarlet, gold, green, silver, yellow, blue, and bronze. The spectators stood inside of these twenty towering stands that were each way over fifty feet tall. Every second stand would be decorated with the colors of one team, and every other stand with the colors of the opposing team. A loud horn sounded and the audience roared and cheered with excitement as fourteen players rose into the air on their broomsticks. The colorful players zoomed around the perimeter of the pitch and showed off spectacular feats and tricks while still flying at blinding speeds. Some players jumped up on their broomsticks and rode them as if they were surfing, others made flips, and did barrel-rolls wile they waved and smiled at the spectators. Several players on both tams even blew kisses at certain audience members, causing said people to either blush, squeal, or even faint out of excitement. One or two female audience members even had nosebleeds.

After the players zoomed around the pitch three times, an unknown announcer yelled influentially, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! To the final match of the year! The Konohagakure Reds verses the Otogakure Purples! Whichever team wins this match will go home with the fabulous pure-silver Quidditch Cup!"

The unnamed announcer made the audience roar and bellow in excitement as he turned to present the promised trophy that would go to the winning team. The commentator of the match looked back to the pitch and placed his bendy-looking wand against his throat so as to magnify his voice through magic.

"And here comes our hero team The Konohagakure Reds! Here's Takahara, Sanju, Tobira, Wasabi, Rei, Myamoto, Sakamoto, aaaaand UZUMAKI!"

The seven players of the Konohagakure Reds zoomed around the pitch once again, showing off their scarlet red Quidditch robes, and spotlighting their star player, Naruto. The young teenager was zooming around the pitch, with his scarlet robes flapping in the wind, his feet planted firmly on his brooms bipod, and his hair flying straight back. Naruto was wearing, apart from his Quidditch robes, a set of high-quality armour and gauntlets, boots, and a pair of brown goggles that he wore over his eyes for protection against bugs. Naruto looked over to the stands and gave some kind of salute, a few seconds later they speakers blasted with life and the song Revolution by the British band named Orange started playing with the volume cranked up all the way. The crowds became more and more aroused and pumped with every second they delayed the match from starting, but didn't care, since waiting for the game to start was truly half of the fun.

Naruto and the rest of his fictional team flew to the center of the pitch and surrounded the central circle. The opposing team from Otogakure no Sato took their turn around the pitch when the commentator announced their names in a less than enthusiastic voice. A lot of people were booing at them and their team owner, Orochimaru himself. Naruto looked over to where Orochimaru was sitting, in one of the towering stands. But for some reason, Orochimaru was extremely fat and was currently taking up over two entire rows of seats. He had his own group of followers sitting loyally at his sides, including Daikoku Funeno, the late Sound Five (minus Tayuya), and several Otogakure soldiers, identical to the ones Naruto had to escape from when he left Konoha to find Jiraiya in the town of Pleasure Avenue. They sat down in any seats that Orochimaru's massive rear end wasn't occupying, but was shortly lived when they started to edge away from him as if he smelled of something foul. Naruto laughed once he saw that Danzo was in the stands with him and covering his face because of the nasty smell Orochimaru was giving off, as if the Snake Sannin had just defecated his pants or something.

Naruto looked over on the other side of the pitch and smiled when he saw his Uncle Jiraiya, the proud and muscular owner of the Konohagakure Reds. He was wearing sunglasses and a form-fitting red t-shirt and baggy, black pants. He was drinking a large cup of beer and sitting with Naruto's Aunt Tsunade, who was dressed up in colors of red and black in favor of her surrogate nephew's team. She seemed to be enjoying herself even though she was sitting next to the biggest pig she had known in her life. But at the same time, she looked content to be sitting with him, even while he roared loudly and spilled his beer once or twice. Next to Tsunade, were Shizune and Anko. They were both wearing matching cheerleader outfits emblazoned with the colors red and black and cheering for the Konohagakure Reds. But because Naruto saw these two women as his older sisters, neither one of their outfits had their navels showing or any revealing part of their body. Iruka was seen jumping up and down along with the girls on Anko's side, wearing a leisure outfit that were the same colors as his cheer-leading counterparts. He was heard and seen cheering and jeering in the crowd while the opening theatrics commenced. In the row down in front of Jiraiya, there sat Sarutobi, yelling at Jiraiya for having spilled beer right on top of his head. But right next to the old man, there stood Harry himself. Completely whole again and with his own body, he wearing a set of black and red robes and sitting down calmly as the Golden Snitch and Bludgers were released into the air.

In the time Naruto took to observe his surroundings, the starting whistle at last sounded and the match had commenced.

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

_The International Match by Jeremy Soule_

The roar of the crowds helped Naruto snap back into focusing on the game and began to zoom and fly around the stadium in search for the Snitch. The Quaffle was passed from Chaser to Chaser on the Konohagakure Reds. They all showed such amazing grace and swiftness as each player passed the ball to each other. With their combined teamwork and fast-paced flying, they managed to score five goals perfectly in a row. The Otogakure Purples, while they were equally fast, failed to come up with as good a strategy as the team from Konoha. They kept messing up and passing to the wrong teammates. The result being that they kept dropping the Quaffle. But after some trial and error, Orochimaru's team did manage to score at least three goals in the first twenty minutes of the game. After they started to catch up, the Otogakure Purples started to play dirty by attacking Konoha players while they were still in the air, earning them a significant number of fouls. Throughout the match, players zoomed across the stadium, some were tackled in mid-air by both opposite players and zigzagging Bludgers. Before long, the match became bloody and brutal.

"GO! GO! NA-RU-TO! GO! GO! NA-RU-TO!" The spectators would chant alongside Naruto's family watching in the stands as they watched him fly.

Naruto flew on his broom with perfect velocity and precision as he chased after the glistening Golden Snitch. He kept finding the Snitch and chased after it for a while before a player from Otogakure got in the way and tried to either crash right into him or throw him off his flight pattern. Each time this happened, Naruto would lose sight of the Snitch and had to start over.

Following close behind our hero, was no one other than Kabuto Yakushi, traitor and enemy Seeker. His face was terribly scarred from the twin injuries both Naruto and Hayate Gekko inflicted upon him with swords. The two-faced spy flew with just as good of skill as his rival Seeker, but Naruto remained in the lead as he went on with his search. Kabuto was following behind Naruto and trying to cheat his way to victory, instead of using actual skill and searching for it himself. When Naruto spotted it again, Kabuto would apply a boost of speed to his broom and tug at the tail of Naruto's broomstick, earning him a number of fouls. Becoming irritated with Kabuto cheating, Naruto got a very good idea on how to get back. He took a sharp turn and started flying in and out of the towering stands, whizzing and brushing past them at dangerously close distances and incredible speed. Kabuto actually brushed against one of the stands too closely and bumped into the stands multiple times. Until finally, he accidentally let his broom handle hit against the wood of one of the stands. Kabuto was then sent spinning out of control and just barely managed to handle his broom again and stop. Naruto let himself hover in the air and watched as Kabuto spun out of control and laughed.

"Sloppy, very sloppy, Kabuto!"

And then the young teen spotted a glint of gold shining next to the opposing team's goal hoops. Remembering a good battle tactic he had read in a library book, Naruto decided to blind his rival Seeker by irritating or enraging him.

"Hey, Kabuto! What's the matter? Has Orochimaru been tiring you out in bed lately? Given his change in size, I'm not surprised!" he taunted.

Kabuto heard Naruto's cruel and offensive remark and glared daggers at the blonde wizard as his eyes turned red behind his glasses. Naruto turned his broom around and started speeding away from Kabuto as fast as he could fly. He turned around for a quick look and saw Kabuto's purple robes whipping behind him as his tiny black eyes were fixed on Naruto. The blonde teen turned his attention back to the Snitch and flew as fast as he could towards the enemy goal posts. The enemy Keeper tried to get in Naruto's way and tackle him, but the blonde was hoping this would happened and leaned forward to apply more speed to his broom. Naruto sped right for the Keep, and at the last possible second, he jumped right off his broom and leapt over the Keeper. His broomstick flew underneath the Keeper's feet and Naruto just barely grazed a few of the enemy's hairs before he landed back on his broom and followed the Snitch. The unexpecting Kabuto did not expect for Naruto to jump up into the air and ended up crashing into his own teammate and they both fell off their brooms and landed on the field in a messy and bone-breaking heap.

"NO!" outraged a badly-tempered Orochimaru as he threw heaps and heaps of garbage and wasted food at his own servant.

Naruto had scared the Snitch away from the goal posts, causing it to flee upwards and towards the center of the pitch over a hundred and fifty feet up in the sky. Naruto pulled his broom up towards him and flew up high into the sky to follow. Sensing Naruto's presence, the Snitch took a desperate attempt to escape from capture by diving down towards the very center of the Quidditch pitch. Naruto followed it, making a death-defying nose dive. He stretched out his arm as far as he could, opening up his gloved hand and speeding closer and closer to the tiny golden ball as he got closer and closer to the ground. The crowds supporting the Konohagakure Reds stood up all at once and held their breath as Naruto showed no signs of slowing down. Orochimaru smiled, believing that the boy that had caused him so much trouble would end up diving to his own death.

The stadium turned totally quiet as Naruto pulled up an inch before he crashed and then-

"HE'S CAUGHT IT!"

"Naruto Uzumaki wins the Quidditch Cup!" the announcer cheered in excitement.

Naruto pulled up his broom and yelled out, "DATTEBAYO!" in victory as he clenched the tiny golden ball in his fist, it's silver wings flapping uselessly against his fingers. Naruto had closed his eyes and waited for his imaginary teammates to come flying out to him and try hugging him all at once until the crashed to the earth together.

But it wasn't until then, Naruto realized the cheering voices had disappeared so suddenly.

He opened his eyes and looked around, wondering why everyone had gone quiet. He tried rubbing his eyes a little to get better focus, only to discover that _everyone_ had vanished from sight. Not only was the audience gone, but his teammates, the referee, and the opposing team as well were gone as well. As if they didn't even exist. Even his family had disappeared along with his enemies. It was just like something out of that TV mini-series indirectly based on Stephen King's: The Langoliers, only it didn't take place in a random town somewhere in Maine.

(A/N: What is Stephen King's _fetish_ for that place in all of his stories?)

Naruto became worried, he steadily landed to the ground and jumped off his broom and called out to anyone, hoping they could hear him.

"Hello? Where is everybody?" he called.

Naruto looked around the pitch, looking for any sign of a single person to be found. He looked and looked around the area, when his eyes fell upon a dark, shrouded figure standing outside the exit/entrance to the pitch. Whoever it was, they were directly across from where Naruto was standing. As soon as Naruto had spotting him, the figure turned away and ran out of the vacantly empty stadium. Naruto chased after him, leaving his broomstick on the ground, forgotten, along with dropping the Golden Snitch and let it fly away and out of site.

_Bella Dreams by Alexandre Desplat_

He ran after the mysterious figure, and he led him out of the stadium. He continued running out into the field which the pitch was built in, and into the dark pinewood forest at the end of the field.

Not feeling winded at all, Naruto tried to keep up with the, he realized now, cloaked figure using his shinobi prowess, but the mysterious being kept pressing on ahead of him. Naruto had been running in so deep and far into the forest, that he failed to realize that the pinewood trees had blended and changed into the familiar Konoha-indigenous trees. The scenery grew more exotic and green as the dark-colored bark of the pinewood had transformed into that of the light and smooth bark of the trees from Konoha.

Many branches and leafs whacked into Naruto's face as he desperately tried to follow the figure. He tossed aside one particularly large fern with one of his gloved hands and the forest vanished before his eyes instantly.

He was now in Konoha.

Naruto stood in the direct center of the town square, as if he had Apparated there. He then noticed that his clothes had changed along with his environment; his scarlet and black Quidditch robes and gear were gone and now he wore his distasteful orange jumpsuit with his jacket-part unzipped, showcasing Tsunade's cursed necklace resting on top of his plain, black t-shirt.

Despite being back at home, something was very wrong with the village to Naruto. The buildings were the same, nothing was under attack, and everything was quiet. But that was the big problem, the entire village was completely devoid of any life. It was empty, absolutely, positively, undeniable empty. Naruto looked around, and to his shock saw the Hokage faces on Hokage Mountain were completely and utterly blank, as if someone had taken an eraser and etched out the faces of the Shodai, Nidaime, Sarutobi, and Yondaime Hokage.

Naruto spun around, hearing footsteps coming from behind him. And to his surprise, it was the figure he was following. He revealed himself to be an average civilian, which was strange that he managed to run so fast without the physical advantages of chakra. Confused, Naruto called over to the male villager, wanting answers, "Hey! Where is everyone?"

The villager responded monotonically, "You do not belong here."

His voice, despite being very far away, was heard all too well. Naruto then felt very uneasy by the hatred laced in the man's uninviting words. He began to back away from him slowly just as another person had appeared.

A woman's shrill voice sounded from behind the blonde, "You absolute freak!"

"Demon!"

"SCUM!"

"WITCH!"

"FREAK!"

Insulting villagers came popping out of nowhere, surrounding the people seemed to come out of nowhere and threw hateful insults at the boy. More and more people joined the fray, civilian and shinobi alike.

_Destroying the Locket by Alexandre Desplat_

Naruto began to spin around, being controlled by an unknown force and saw the faces of all those that were hating him and spitting at him. Their voices grew louder and louder as the blonde teen started spinning around faster and faster. In a defensive position, Naruto closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, but failing to ignore the hateful crowd surrounding him. They remained in the crowd and shouted at the wizard, knowing who he was now.

Dangerous storm clouds began to form and grow in the skies above, thunder billowing lowly. The noises and insults irritated Naruto to the point the could no longer stand it and yelled for it to all stop.

"SHUT UP!"

And like magic, the crowd stopped spinning and became silent.

Naruto looked up from the sudden silence, and to an even greater surprise saw Team's 8, 10, and Guy gathered right in front of him.

Naruto breathed in relief, "You guys, thank kami, I-"

The blonde then held his breath when everyone turned their backs to him, and disappeared into the encircling crowd of hateful people. Naruto hopelessly reached out a hand to his friends, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Hinata as tears began to well up in his eyes. He turned around in a weak attempt to hide his face, when he saw his own squad, Team 7.

Naruto felt his legs feel like jello as he pleaded to them in a blubbering voice,"P-please..."

Nobody from his squad changed their stoic expressions as Naruto's eyes welled up with tears. The only person who managed to break the pattern of emotionless expression was Sasuke of all people. The Uchiha heir looked at Naruto with his Sharingan activated and he giggled at Naruto with an evil smirk on his twisted face.

"_Heh, my how the mighty have fallen again. Eh, dobe?_"

He looked away from the Uchiha traitor, and gazed up into Kakashi's masked face with hope in his flowing blue eyes.

"Kaka-sensei..." he started.

But Kakashi looked down at Naruto with hatred and disgust in his only visible eye. He took a step back and kicked dirt into Naruto's face as he placed a gloved hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

The Copy-Ninja said coldly, "_You do not deserve to learn_."

He then promptly turned his back to his neglected student and disappeared into the crowd, abandoning the blonde yet another time. Struggling to stop himself from crying, Naruto turned over to the girl he was sure that he loved, in the hopes that Sakura Haruno of all people would still be willing to accept him.

Instead, Sakura looked at Naruto with a disgusting look on her face that made her look remarkably ugly, "_You do not deserve love and be loved_."

She then spat into his face and joined the crowd of haters gladly. Naruto clenched his stomach, trying to resist the overwhelming urge to break down and cry his eyes out. Meanwhile, Sasuke's curse mark spread across his body more quickly than it did at the Valley of the End. The fire-like marks engulfed his entire body in the space of a second and then it steadily started to transform Sasuke into his demon form as if he were a disgusting monster from a horror movie.

"_And you don't deserve to __**live**_!" he snarled like the demon he had become.

Sasuke's mouth smirked wildly as he exposed his teeth, that had grown and sharpened into a messy, needle-like structure. Sasuke's tongue had grow to be two feet long in length and turned serpent-like. Sasuke licked his lips and unnaturally sharp teeth in a gesture of a lust for human flesh, splattering torrents of drool and saliva all over his face as his stomach growled and the arm-like wings erupted out of his back and tore off his entire shirt.

Naruto fell on his ass and yelled up to the thundering heavens, "Uncle! Baa-chan! Shizune! Iruka, HELP ME!"

The massive crowd that had gathered, comprising of everyone he knew to live in the village cheered and chanted Sasuke's name as if they were performing some kind of a ritual sacrifice and Sasuke was their god. The demonic Sasuke Uchiha lunged at the blonde like a starving wild animal, opening his mouth over three feet wide, exposing a second pair of teeth hiding inside his maw. Drool exploded out of his mouth and he roared with an unnatural pitch in his voice.

"NO!"

* * *

While all of these exciting, spectacular, and nightmarish events and things were happening, Naruto was laying down on a hospital bed, fast asleep. He was now seen tossing and turning in his sleep as the villagers and his friends were beginning to shun him out and now it was getting to the scary part where Sasuke was about to eat Naruto like a hungry and wild animal.

"No-no-no-no! He's going to kill me! N-"

Naruto was about to scream himself awake until he felt himself being wrapped in something soft and warm. Naruto tried to calm and slow down his breath as beads of sweat pored out from his skin. Naruto looked up and recognized the distinct chunin uniform, the smell, and the feel of the clothes and knew who it was.

It was Iruka.

_Dreamcatcher by Alexandre Desplat_

Once awake, Iruka gently placed Naruto down on the bed and smiled down at him sadly.

"It's okay, you're safe now..." Iruka said softly.

Naruto's breath caught up in his throat and lunged himself into Iruka chest. Iruka embraced Naruto warmly as he tried to calm himself. He rubbed soothing circles onto his back affectionately, trying to calm him down as he let him cry a little bit in his chest. Naruto soon began to settle down as he melted into Iruka's embrace, feeling as if the older man had rescued him from the demon-Sasuke that tried to devour him.

Iruka sighed sadly and said, "Naruto, I'm so sorry..."

Naruto sniffed and looked up to his fatherly big brother, clearly confused, "What d'you mean, aniki?"

Iruka squeezed Naruto closer to him, "I had no choice but to tell the Council what Harry asked me to tell them, even though I promised to never speak to anyone that I even knew about it. I didn't want you to get any wrong idea. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he said calmly.

Naruto rubbed his cheek against Iruka's warm chest and said in his uncommonly vulnerable voice, "It's okay Iruka-aniki. You just said you had no choice, plus Harry told you to (and according to him, you didn't exactly say anything to them). I can't blame you for that..."

Naruto looked around in search for anyone else in the room but there was no one. He was certainly expecting to see Sarutobi and waited for when he would reprimand Naruto for having not told him his secret in the first place.

"Where's Grandpa Hokage?" he asked.

"The Sandiame stayed behind to settle the council down. He's going to _make sure_ he won't make the same mistake he made with his last degree. I heard that he threatened to throw out any of the council out of the village himself if they even _tried_ any propaganda or attack against you and Harry... Jiraiya-sama said he looked really pissed off at them and Danzo especially... After what he tried to pull..." Iruka answered.

Iruka's earlier guilt felt lifted off his shoulders as Naruto sighed and remained utterly silent, but he sensed that something was still obviously bothering Naruto.

"Naruto... Tell me how you feel right now." Iruka said to him with an ordering sense in his voice while also reaching out to him.

Naruto slipped back into his bed, while Iruka sat in his chair next to said bed, resting his elbows on his thighs.

"C'mon, buddy. Tell me what's bothering you." he insisted.

Naruto eyes became shrouded by darkness as he started off slowly, "I've been completely exposed... I never wanted this to happen, not at least until I was more accepted or even until I was Hokage... My life's secret has just been made village knowledge, and now it's only a matter of time before the entire _country_ knows about me like this... Everywhere I'll go, no matter how far I tread, people will look and point at me, saying, 'Look it's the magic-boy!' and 'Hey, do a magic trick for us, wizard!'. All the while, everyone else will just scorn and yell at me, calling me some kind of a freak of nature!"

Iruka looked at Naruto with a serious and sad look while the blonde continued to rant with a mixture of devastation and anger in his voice.

"Now, I lost my _supposed_ best friend, my _sensei_ abandoned me, and it won't be long before I lose _all_ of my friends, because I never told them anything..." Naruto began to struggle holding back the tears that began to come up,

"What's worst of all, is that I put you, Anko(even though she didn't know), Shizune, Uncle Jiraiya, and Baa-chan in the middle of all my problems! And now you guys are going to have to put up with everyone in the whole village!" Naruto grew very close to crying again out of his piling emotions and overwhelming guilt, "...All of your lives are r-ruined, and-it's-all-my fault!"

Naruto collapsed in tears of remorse for what he might have caused to happen to the people he held so dear. But Iruka then placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder and lifted his chin to face him, causing Naruto to stop crying a little.

Iruka looked into Naruto's eyes and told him, "I cannot possibly imagine how overwhelmed you must be feeling, right now... But you don't _ever_ have to feel guilty or worry about us."

Naruto still felt shameful, "But everyone will hate you guys for helping me now, y-you could lose your job at the Academy for all we know."

Iruka wiped away Naruto's tears with his now out-rolled sleeve, "Naruto, on the day you introduced me to Harry and brought me into your world, I knew _exactly_ what I was going to get myself into... And I'm going to tell you this once and I'm not going to say it again: I couldn't care less about what other people think about me or what they might _try_ to do. That includes their opinions on who I choose to spend my time with and who I choose to help out."

Naruto looked at Iruka with hopeful blue eyes.

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, Shizune, and myself all knew what could happen to our reputations and our careers if we cared and helped you. And we still did, and none of us regret it. Not at all..." Iruka ensured Naruto.

The blonde smiled hopefully into the chunin's face, but soon frowned, "Life is gonna be really hard for us, huh?"

Iruka gave his baby brother a sad smile and reached out to hug him once more.

"Yeah... Life is hard for us all, but it's the people who care about you that can make it a little easier to endure...You're going to be okay..." he ended with a warm smile.

Iruka's words made Naruto feel a little better, realizing he would have his 'family' to help him down his dark road of life. And Naruto said the four words that made Iruka himself feel happy.

"Thank you, Iruka-aniki..."

Iruka smiled and said, "No problem, Naruto."

* * *

When Naruto went back to sleep that night, he re-entered the mindscape to ask Harry an important question in regard to Danzo.

A little bit over a week after Naruto's thirteenth birthday, Danzo had been made the temporary stand-in Godaime Hokage.

For reasons unknown, the daimyo of the Land of Fire decided that Danzo should be made the temporary Hokage until Jiraiya found Tsunade and persuaded her to restore Sarutobi back to proper health. Should Jiraiya fail to get Tsunade to return and heal the Sandaime Hokage in time, then Danzo would have become the official Godaime Hokage of Konoha. But while he played as the stand-in, Naruto had accidentally listened in on Danzo while he was meeting with one of his ANBU agents. They were discussing about how much of a nuisance Naruto was going to become for him and how much of a dangerous liability he was slowly becoming. It was then, Naruto heard that Danzo was giving his personal ANBU errand boy the order to gather several of his other men and placed a hit on Naruto that night while he slept in his apartment.

Naruto then fled the scene undetected and packed up all of his things and stayed at Iruka's house that night and had not told him what he had discovered about the disgruntled elder. But the next day, Iruka helped Naruto to escape from the village undetected, so that Naruto could catch up with Jiraiya on his mission to search for Tsunade. Reason as to why Jiraiya left the village without Naruto in the first place? Well, as soon as the Sannin caught wind that Danzo was going to be made the stand-in Hokage soon, he feared that if he stayed in the village for too long, then the new 'Hokage' would start getting him to do extensive missions for the village. Despite the fact that Jiraiya was a hermit, he was still loyal to his home village and willing did a mission for it's Hokage, if he was needed. But Danzo never needed a ninja as powerful as Jiraiya, he just wanted to keep the Toad Sannin busy, seeing as it would delay him from leaving to find Tsunade and heal Sarutobi in time.

Days before that had happened, Jiraiya gave Naruto a fake assignment to leave the village, and once out, to take a specific route that was safe for him to go alone. (That why Iruka helped Naruto to escape, believing he was performing a training exercise. Naruto didn't want Iruka to worry about Naruto being killed by the current ruler of their village)

But Jiraiya wasn't aware at the fact that Danzo would be so desperate to become Hokage, that he was going to try to kill an innocent kid just to get a hold of that red and white hat. After the rest of the Sannin were informed of Harry's existence, Jiraiya divulged the information he already knew about Danzo and his unbelievable desire to become ruler of the village to both Naruto and Harry.

The teenage wizard entered Harry's room and saw that he was sitting down on one of the comfortable armchairs by the fireplace. Naruto walked over and didn't say anything until he sat down in the other armchair and stared at the fire. Naruto was about to ask if Harry had mentioned anything regarding Danzo in the meeting. He wanted to know if Danzo had been exposed to what he was planning to do with Naruto many months ago.

"Harry-" he started.

"I didn't tell the Council what we know about Danzo, yet." Harry answered before Naruto could finish asking the question.

Naruto looked very surprised, "But why? We could have gotten him locked away for good if we told the Council what he almost did!"

Harry explained, "If he has control over certain ANBU in the village, whose to say that he doesn't have anyone _else_ already under his control?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and understood Harry's reasoning, "That could be a possibility..."

Harry said, "For now, we should just play it safe and only use our trump card when the time is right. If Danzo tried to do anything to you again, whatever slimy way possible, we'll hit him where it hurts...Okay?"

Naruto nodded internally and said slowly at last, "Okay..."

Harry smiled, "Good... Besides, we have a bit of a problem if we want to get Danzo locked away for good. We don't actually have any _substantial_ evidence apart from what you heard Danzo say to his errand boy. We should wait until we can find some _actual_ evidence so that way we can _actually_ expose him.. Once we get what we need, we'll get him when the time is right..."

Seeing no point in trying to deny Harry's logic, Naruto accepted the idea, "Okay, Harry."

Harry smiled, he leaned over and pinched Naruto's chin to get him to look up, "That's good. Because I personally would prefer if we had a little bit of fun and broke down Danzo slowly before we expose him for the tyrant he is..."

Naruto slowly smiled as well, "...Yeah. I would like that. I would _really_ like that..."

* * *

In no time at all, just as Naruto had predicted would happen, the entire village soon caught word:

Naruto Uzumaki was a wizard.

Almost half of the civilians immediately wanted to start an uproar, march through the streets with torches and pitchforks and start storming to the hospital where Naruto was currently residing. They were afraid that Naruto was now way too powerful and dangerous to be kept alive anymore, and the only logical thing left to do at a time like this was to put him to death, before he could use any of his powers. But thankfully, the Sandaime Hokage immediately put together a brand-new, fully and constantly enforced law. Every citizen in the village was forbidden to do anything to harm or assault Naruto in any way, shape, or form. The law also forbade anyone to even treat Naruto or anyone involved with him any differently. Should either a civilian or a shinobi break any of these laws to a measurable degree, they would immediately be thrown into prison without a fair trial and be executed should they not change their ways within a given time period and prove it.

No civilian would dare to defy the old Hokage anymore. Not after being reminded of his incredible strength and fighting ability while fighting Orochimaru, and his immeasurable rage and anger he displayed at the hearing when Harry came into the picture. The civilians could no longer take part in harming Naruto the way they used to. Now they were left with nothing beyond scowling at him or giving him a dirty look, so long as they weren't caught doing it.

The shinobi of the village, however, had a dramatically different reaction as opposed to their vindictive civilian comrades.

A majority of the ninja in the village no longer saw Naruto as the enemy and embarrassment of their village. Even with the information regarding his abnormality, they were strangely accepting of him and his differences. That's not to say they weren't entirely skeptical or a little bit fearful of his rumored powers and abilities. They had only _just_ found out that Naruto not only possessed one of the most dangerous and powerful demonic beings known to the shinobi world, but now learned that he holds another power inside of him that would put all ninjutsu to shame with how simple and potent it was.

Some few older shinobi that were in the same generation as the elder Hyuga Clan Council, were beginning to believe that Naruto was some kind of a messiah, for being able to keep so much power kept inside of his skinny body and still remain on their side as a highly rebellious, yet very loyal shinobi. But at the same time, half of that same elder generation felt that Naruto was the exact opposite of a messiah, given his past behavioral habits and demonic prisoner. So ultimately, half of the elder generation, fell in the favor of their civilian counterparts, while the other half remained tolerant and understanding of the boy and his magic.

The present generation of ninja (that were keeping the village running and going) were mostly in favor of their village's lone jinchuuriki. Having heard the rumors surrounding him and Gaara during the Chunin Exam Finals, that Naruto was mostly responsible for getting Tsunade to return, and having defeated Sasuke Uchiha and prevented him from escaping to Orochimaru for power, were all points given to confirm that Naruto was nothing short of a hero in their eyes. Granted the shinobi were still very skeptical of his magical powers, but not in a way that could be defined as borderline resentment. In the end, only a small fraction of the shinobi still held onto their past beliefs that the Uzumaki boy was still a miserable freak.

It took some time, but the vast majority of shinobi saw good reason in this shocking turn of events; Having a sorcerer as an asset to the village could only benefit them in their time of weakness after they fully recovered. With Naruto in their military, it would help keep their village strong and powerful. There was absolutely no reason to be prejudice or discriminative towards the young Uzumaki.

The shinobi, after comparing Naruto to Sasuke's traitorous and cowardly actions, finally realized who the 'good guy' has always been after all these years. And felt it only right to forget the past involving the Kyuubi and forgive the blonde of the burdens he carried, feeling nothing but deserving guilt for shunning him and mistreating him all this time. They felt now that they could take this newly presented opportunity to make up for what they've done to the teen by willing accepting this young wizard and start treating him with the respect he always deserved to have.

The clan leaders, on the evening after the eventful meeting, spoke to their children and the rest of their clans of the news involving Naruto.

The blondes friend's were _shocked _beyond belief. Naruto, their graduating classes dobe, was a real-live wizard, with a wand and everything else that came with it.

Their opinions of him... were strangely positive... All of them, positive.

To their parents shock, Naruto's age-mates still accepted him as they did before. If not, _better_ than before.

* * *

Ino came home the evening of the meeting to see her father and mother sitting down in their living room, waiting for here. They asked her to sit down with them to discuss what they had both learned today. Ino listened intently as her father went into detail on meeting and Ino's mother tried to convince her to still treat Naruto the same. Ino was left speechless. At first, she didn't believe what her father was telling her was the truth. She had admitted that Naruto was a pretty good shinobi, especially since he successfully defeated Sasuke by himself (and she was thankful for that), was one thing to say about him. But saying that he was a practitioner of the art of sorcery was stretching the truth a great deal. She didn't want to believe it. But this was her father talking, it was the truth.

She was stunned and impressed to the point of speechlessness.

* * *

When Shikamaru returned home from visiting Choji in the hospital, his father had him sit down with his mother and informed him of the existence of the wizarding world he was introduced to. He and his mother were unbelieving at first, but then they excepted the truth, his mother taking more time than her son. Shikamaru smirked in front of his father saying he _knew_ that Naruto had always been hiding something behind his unrealistic stupidity. He sensed it the moment he first met him at the Ninja Academy. He kept asking himself how can a person be so elaborate and successful with pranks and yet be so bad with his grades at the Ninja Academy?

Then his father asked his son, how can someone have an IQ of over two-hundred, and yet be so lazy?

In a way, Shikamaru felt that he and Naruto now had even more in common than they thought possible. He was really eager to get to see him soon, once he had the time.

* * *

Hinata was called in by her father on the same night of the meeting. She approached her tall and intimidating father, feeling as though she had done something wrong, even though she truly never did any such thing. She sat down and listened to Hiashi as he retold the events of the events in the chamber. Hinata, upon learning that her age-long crush was a wizard, she was mesmerized and astounded to the point where she almost fainted. To her, it now sounded as if Naruto came into existence by coming directly out of a fairy tale book. She could already imagine seeing Naruto outfitted in wizarding gear and talking to her and understanding her with his wizard wisdom.

Instead of feeling fearful of Naruto as Hiashi felt would happen, she now found Naruto to be even more amazing in her eyes than she ever though she could so soon.

Hiashi soon dismissed her daughter and watched as she floated away on her feet and sung herself in a quiet, heavenly voice that reminded him of his late wife's voice, "_Once I'm with the wizard, my whole life will change..._"

* * *

When Shino's father came home that evening, he had the two of them sit down and Shibi told his only son everything he had learned in complete monotone. Shino simply stared at him at his father for several minutes before telling him that felt the exact same way he always felt about Naruto, since the first time they met in school many years ago. The fact that he had magical powers, didn't change his opinion in the slightest. Probably because he didn't have much of an opinion about Naruto anyway... Or anything for that matter.

But he was a little bit interested in him now.

* * *

Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji, Choji, and Kiba still had yet to hear about the news from their individual teammates. For most of them were still hospitalized and Guy-sensei hadn't yet told Tenten or Lee the news of the meeting he bared witness to. But knowing his students, Guy remained confidant that they would think better of Naruto, Lee would probably want to challenge him to a rivalry of everlasting youth, Lee's way of making a friend, Neji being in dept to Naruto for changing his ways after their Chunin Exam Final match, and Tenten... She would be eager and very curious to know more about Naruto and his abilities, so long as his powers didn't make him insane like the rest of her out-of-this-world team.

All in all, the teams were absolutely _ecstatic_ to see Naruto and couldn't wait until he could get out of his bed on his own.

But back at the Haruno family household, pink-haired Sakura, however, was told a slightly different version of the same story.

She arrived home a little bit wet from the sudden thunderstorm. She had been walking around the village all day, trying to get over the trauma from being yelled at by her Sasuke-kun. She was also trying to get over the tension of Sasuke's trial, believing that he would actually be executed for his crimes. Once the day was out, she finally returned home just before her parents came back from the meeting. They had her sit down in their living room to talk about what happened, divulging details about Naruto's 'unnatural' and 'inhuman' magical powers and extra subconscious. She could believe her ears as her parents told her everything that they had been told. The ones that struck her the most, were when they said that Sasuke was not going to be executed and instead he was going to be sent to the Rehabilitation Center to improve himself being the ones involving the battle in the Forest of Death. The Obliviation that Harry had placed on her had finally worn off at the mention of the fight in the details her parents gave her.

But after they got through a good portion of the story, Sakura's parents got an idea that made them both turn to face each other for a few second and smile.

They went on and on, telling Sakura of their own version of the tale. Knowing their daughter's powerful infatuation for Sasuke, they told her that it was Naruto's _intention_ and _plot_ to get rid of Sasuke since the moment they were first grouped together after they graduated almost a full year ago. They said that Naruto had been pretending to act stupid to give Sasuke a strong sense of superiority. From there, he let himself pretend to act less and less stupid and weak until Sasuke felt that his place on the team was being threatened. Which prompted Sasuke to seek Kakashi-sensei's personal training from there on out. They then said that Naruto got Jiraiya of the Sannin to start training him and took him with him to search for Tsunade. That was probably as close to the truth as they got, when they said that Naruto started provoking Sasuke with false knowledge about his criminal brother and manipulating his way into getting Sasuke to fight the blonde and lead the Uchiha to betray the village to become stronger by going to Orochimaru. Only to be defeated by Naruto, the Plotter and finally get rid of him through the legal system and sweep away Sakura in his absence.

(A/N: Yes this is a bash, but this one is going to be more founded than most out there)

The heavily stretched truth dug into Sakura's head deeply enough to set her mind for a pretty damn long time. She thought of Naruto and his goofy, reassuring smile when he promised to bring him back her beloved Uchiha at the village gates. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows more than she ever did in her life and she seethed in a newly reinforced hatred towards her only remaining teammate. She hated Naruto more than ever before.

Sakura's parents smiled in satisfaction, for they got a part of what they wanted. If they couldn't break the Hokage's new law, then they could at least break Naruto's heart through their daughter.

* * *

The next day, Ino and Shikamaru had arrived at the hospital and were seen making their down the hallway to pay their dear friend and teammate Choji a visit. They had dropped off a whole mountain of snacks that he loved, and given him their company for as long as he could stay awake before he would have to start eating and sleeping again to gain his normal weight back.

Shikamaru was very glad that his friend was alive and getting better each and every day, after everything that they had been through on the mission. Ino looked even more relieved and happier than her lazy teammate did. She felt so horrible when she remembered how she would make fun of Choji for being 'big-boned' and ate excessively. She remembered back when she would harshly compare him to herself just to help her boost her own self-esteem.

She thought back to how she would rant on and on about how perfect and thin Sasuke always was, and would compare him to Choji, being rather fat and non-muscular.

When she saw how frail and bone-thin the Akimichi heir had become after trying to help bring back the 'perfect and thin Sasuke', she felt so guilty and horrible for having ever belittled her teammate the way she did. From that point on, Ino decided, after reasonable consideration, that someone like 'perfect and thin Sasuke', was not the perfect man for her to be chasing after. Especially if he was the one responsible for leading her chunky teammate to almost dying in combat. She had finally decided to forget about pursuing a traitor like Sasuke, and find real love in her later life, when she truly knew what it meant to be in love.

Her injured teammate was far more important to her than some old school crush.

After an hour or two, Choji had eaten his large fill of the day, thanks to his teammates, and he had to go to sleep as soon as possible so as to keep the extra weight on. Once he was fast asleep and Ino having helped fluff up his pillows, Shikamaru wanted to visit Naruto at long last. Ino wanted to go and see him too, so as to ensure that what both their father's told them was true.

As the pair walked out of the ICU and into the lobby, the hallway down towards the east wing was where Naruto's room was. But when they entered the hallway, they saw two people they weren't expecting to run into. It was Tenten Suzuki and Rock Lee from Team Guy. The two older teens noticed Ino and Shikamaru walking towards them, they both stood up from their seats in the hallway and walked over to greet them.

"Oh, Hi! We didn't expect to see you guys here." Ino greeted in advance.

Tenten and Lee as they walked up to the other genin. Tenten was dressed in her usual Chinese-style kunoichi outfit, only her usual buns of brown hair were untied, letting her hair flow down her head naturally. Lee was dressed as he normally was as well, only he was wearing his arm in a sling and had a heavily bandaged leg to keep his muscles from straining too much, forcing him to walk in limps.

"Hey... you're name is Ino, right?" Tenten asked.

Ino asked, "Yep! You're name... it's Nine-Nine, right?" Ino asked genuinely, causing the brunette to cough back her irritance,

Tenten coughed in irritance, "It's Tenten, actually... So... who are visiting?"

Shikamaru answered for her, "Ino and I just got back from visiting our friend Choji. So we decided to check up on the others, Naruto is next on our list."

"That's who we're about to see! Want to go together?" Lee offered enthusiastically.

"Hmm." Shikamaru nodded lazily, and the four of them walked down the hall towards Naruto's room.

"So how's Neji been doing, by the way?" Shikamaru asked.

Tenten answered, "He's doing so much better, but he can't get out of bed yet. He'll soon be back on his feet, thanks to Lady Tsunade."

Lee giggled, "Isn't that the tenth time you've mentioned Tsunade-sama today, Tenten?" Lee laughed, "And _you_ say _I'm_ too obsessive sometimes!"

Tenten flushed in embarrassment, "Shut up, Lee!"

She outraged and punched Lee in the arm for having embarrassed her for the umpteenth time, but not too hard for his still-injured arm.

"ITAI!" he yelped and started caressing his arm.

Smiling satisfaction Tenten lead the way to Naruto's room, "Anyway, Naruto's going to need a lot of _supportive_ visitors considering what _he's_ endured lately."

"What do you mean?" Ino asked, but she was conveniently interrupted by a sudden loud voice boomed from right behind them.

"Hey! You guys are here too?" asked the slightly still bandaged Kiba Inuzuka. Following close behind the mad gunslinger were his ever so loyal teammates and good friends Hinata and Shino.

Shikamaru grunted lazily, "Hey."

"Hi, everyone." Hinata smiled kindly.

Shino asked, "So I presume we all wish to see Naruto?"

"I guess so," answered Ino.

The pale, blonde girl looked around, expecting to see her best friend/rival show up at any moment. She was hoping to inform Sakura that she was pulling out of their race to win Sasuke's heart and become friends again.

Ino asked, "Say, has anyone seen Sakura?"

Tenten, unsure who Sakura was exactly, asked the group, "Is she the pink haired girl who yells a lot?"

Everyone answered in unison, "Yep!"

"Then there she is." Tenten pointed to the familiar girl with hair of pink.

Sakura came walking up from around the corner slowly. She was wearing her usual attire of red and white, her long uncut hair remaining as well-kept as she had been keeping it for several years now. She looked clean, and well preserved for having finally stopped going out into the village to let the rain of the past few days pour down her face as she despaired over Sasuke's once uncertain future. As she walked down to the gathered group so slowly, she seemed a little bit less pleasant than usual, or less of what degree of pleasantness she normally had before, starting today. Sasuke's absence was now starting to effect her negatively. Without the stoic Uchiha in her presence for most of the time, it seemed that she would become less and less bubblegum-happy as when she usually was whilst thinking about him.

"Hello, everybody..." she greeted a little irritably, before sitting down close to Lee.

"H-have you come t-to see Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked curiously.

Sakura cringed ever so slightly at the very mention of Naruto's name and squeezed out, "Yeah. I came here to see him..."

Everybody felt a slight chill in the air as she said those words aloud, feeling as if she had dipped them in poison, before letting their ears feast upon them.

Ino then remembered something that Tenten was saying before, "Oh yeah! Tenten, what did you mean earlier about Naruto?"

Tenten said, "I heard he got it _bad_ from the Uchiha-boy. Naruto had both of his arms dislocated and almost managed to rip them out of their sockets. Not to mention that Uchiha thrusted a full charged version of that lightning jutsu Chidori he knows, right through his left lung. Naruto had almost died from his injuries. All of this coming straight from Guy-sensei. And trust me when I tell you this, he would never stretch the truth about something this bad..."

This caused the group to become shocked with wide-eyed faces. Sakura was the only person to lean inward, wanting to hear more about what had happened to Naruto. But it was not out of concern for her teammate's well-being, more rather because she started to enjoy hearing about how much Sasuke had hurt him. The genin stopped half-way to Naruto's room to sit down at both sides of the hall and discuss what had happened before seeing the blonde in his room.

Ino was horrified, "Sasuke-kun did _that_? B-but how could he do something so cruel to his own partner? That's just-"

"-A low move. An all time low to do to your own friend and teammate." said Kiba, "I know that he wanted power real bad and all, but that's just a dick-move to go as far as killing your own teammate just to do it."

"Honestly." Shikamaru agreed,

"In all in the name that is youthful..." Lee grieved,

Sakura growled and grew angrier with each negative comment that came out of the mouths of these people. The words and snide comments that judged her precious Sasuke-kun, caused her to feel an anger that boiled in her stomach.

She remained quiet until she stated aloud, "That baka could have killed Sasuke-kun, that stupid moron!"

Everyone else looked at her with confused looks upon each of their faces. They really found it to be flat-out unreasonable that she would insult Naruto all of a sudden, when it was _Sasuke_ that did the most damage to anyone.

Ino asked her, "Uh... Sakura, you _are_ aware that Naruto is the _reason_ Sasuke is still here, right? He had no choice but to bring him back by any means he could."

Everyone noticed it, including Sakura herself, but nobody would say anything about it in the future. When Ino referred to Sasuke, it was the first time in her life that she didn't remember to place the 'kun' honorific after his name.

Shino stepped in to voice his reasoning is Sakura's harsh criticism, "The fact that Naruto managed to survive such an impressive feat for you deserves nothing short of great praise for his accomplishment."

Tenten added, "That is still amazing, though. Naruto Uzumaki finally defeated Sasuke Uchiha, Rookie of the Year."

"He finally did it." Shikamaru sighed with a smirk on his face.

Kiba looked down at the floor in a tad bit of jealousy, but he was very happy that Sasuke had finally gotten his ass kicked, "He actually beat up Uchiha..."

"Yeah..." Ino breathed admittedly, a bit shameful of her previous behavior and opinions about Naruto.

"H-he's really amazing sometimes..." Hinata praised quietly.

"You got that right!" Lee agreed enthusiastically.

While the gathered group of genin were talking about and appreciating their blonde friend, Sakura grew more and more angry with every good word the gave to that manipulative _pig_. She could feel her boiling anger start to get hotter and hotter with each passing second, the heat in her shaking body beginning to give her the powerful desire and drive to explode in a violet rage. She wanted to see Naruto now, she wanted to face him and see what he would do and say once he say her. Sakura wanted to see Naruto happy and enthusiastic to see her so that way she could bring him in with false hope before she would unleash all of her pent up aggression and destroy his heart and body.

* * *

But back at the hospital room his friends were going to enter shortly, Naruto was resting in his bed and staring up at the ceiling. He had been debating for the past hour an a half whether or not he should get out of bed and try to walk around the hospital to see if his legs were functioning normally again. Before he could make any decision, however, he heard a low knock on his door. The teen slowly picked up his wand from the nightstand and pulled his covers over most of his body. There, he hid his wand bellow the sheets and held it in his right hand as tightly as he could possibly hold it. He cleared his throat and then called out to the stranger, expecting it to be an enemy or someone who wanted him for his revealed abilities.

"Come in!"

The door slid open gently and in walked in a young boy around the age of thirteen, with pale skin, brick-red hair, barely visible eyebrows, green eyes, and black tanuki eye rings. He wore reddish-brownish shinobi-styled overalls with long sleeves and an upright collar. He also wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He had mesh armor on his wrists and ankles and carried around a large gourd on his back that was attached to a wide leather band system over his left shoulder and right side of his hips.

Naruto slowly unraveled the sheets over his torso and lessened his grip over his wand as he sat up and opened his eyes and mouth in a pleasant surprise.

"Gaara…?"

The young genin from Suna walked in slowly and gave Naruto the tiniest smile that could ever be accomplished by a human being.

Naruto smiled, only his was much wider, "Gaara! It's so good to see you again!"

Gaara stopped smiling out of habit and bowed his head to Naruto, "As it is to see you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto struggled a little bit with trying to turn his body and face Gaara while also sitting up. Naruto cracked his neck a little bit and then relaxed as he was finally reunited with his fellow jinchuuriki.

"What are you doing all the way out here in Konoha?" he asked.

Gaara let himself stand up and answered, "We received word that Sasuke Uchiha betrayed you and the village and defected to Otogakure no Sato. My siblings and I were called at the request of your Sandaime Hokage to help with the retrieval effort."

Naruto asked, "Well, what happened?"

Gaara closed his eyes and said, "My brother helped by saving your crazy friend Kiba Inuzuka, and my sister finished off that girl with the red hair for your other friend, the smart one."

"What did you do?" he asked.

Gaara sighed through his nose and sat down on the bed next to Naruto. He too also let his feet dangle down and try to touch the floor, just as Naruto had been for awhile.

"I caught up with the boy I had fought back at the Chunin Exams last year. I helped him fight the ninja that grew all of those weapons out from his bones. Kimimaru, I believe his name was. He had died of some internal injury, so neither myself nor the spandex-wearing ninja could fairly claim a victory in that battle. We both equally contributed in eventually forcing him to overexert himself."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding, "So that's how it all went down…"

Gaara then said after a long hesitation between the two of them, "Naruto Uzumaki…"

Naruto looked over to him in questioning, "Yes? But would you mind if you just used my first name from now on, please…?"

Gaara nodded his head before lowering it as he struggled with his feelings, "Sorry… Naruto…"

Gaara hesitated. Unable to put together the right words he wanted to tell Naruto. He contemplated over this for some time before he finally forced himself to relax and went out and said it.

"Thank you, Naruto… Thank you so much…" he said slowly.

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows, "For what…?"

Gaara closed his eyes again, "You've saved me, Naruto … Just as those people that you said loved you and you loved in return… You've opened my eyes on that day and saved me from the same darkness that you've been saved from as well…"

Naruto looked at Gaara with softened eyes, "I… helped you…?"

Gaara then said, "I remember asking you that if it were possible if I could be more like you… If… you and I could be friends… Were you telling the truth…?"

Gaara turned his head away from Naruto, expecting the worst to be said.

Naruto paused and remembered what he had said and promised on that day after they fought. He then remembered. He was telling the truth to Gaara despite being very weak and very tired at the moment, he wanted to seek out Gaara and officially solidify their promised friendship. Naruto did not wish to leave Gaara alone in the darkness for any longer. He now wanted to be his friend.

Naruto smiled, "Yes… We are friends, Gaara…"

Gaara felt it as Naruto placed his bandaged hand on top of this shoulder and rested it right there. Gaara felt as if Naruto's hand gave him some kind of a warmth that slowly infected him and spread throughout his body like some kind of injection. He looked over his shoulder and saw Naruto's face smiling down at him with one of the simplest and yet kindest smiles he had ever seen on so very few people he actually saw smile towards his direction. He looked into Naruto's shining eyes, which he mentally noted to be filled to the brim full of genuine kindness and untold warmth. One of the numerous traits Naruto had inherited from his mother.

There, Gaara felt warm on the inside for one of first times in his life and couldn't resist the urge to give Naruto one of his own very rare smiles, that didn't make him look as if he were a deranged lunatic.

After some time of simply sitting down and taking in the realization of their solidified friendship, Naruto removed his hand from Gaara's shoulder and the two of them merely nodded their heads while occasionally smile at one another awkwardly.

After minutes had passed, Gaara unexpectedly broke the ice between them, "Naruto… Lately, I've been hearing some very strange rumors about you and your recent reputation."

Naruto lowered his head and said with a smile, "I should really be expecting these questions from people more often from now on…"

Gaara said, "If you don't want to-"

Naruto lifted up his hands and said, "Nah, it's okay. I'll talk about it to you."

Gaara relaxed and asked, "Is it really true that you're what the people call a wizard?"

Naruto looked at him saying, "You already know the answer to that, Gaara… You saw me using my spells and curses back during our battle in the middle of the forest last year. So in short; yes, I am a wizard. Not a fully fledged sorcerer yet, but I'm about four years away from total mastery. Once I turn seventeen."

Gaara wracked his brains and tried to clearly remember the finer details of the fight. He did distinctly remember back when he and Naruto were both locked in a alternate version of Priori Incantatem and quickly shook his head to forget what he had heard from the connected beam of light. The voices of the many people, innocent and not innocent alike, that he had killed to prove his existence.

Gaara nodded, "Yes… I believe I can say that I do remember that quite vividly…"

Naruto nodded as his friend did, but he averted his gaze slowly.

Gaara saw this and said, "But you don't have to worry about me treating you any differently… I don't think I even care about the fact that you can use magic… You're still my friend…"

Naruto smiled a smile no one else could rival. Because hearing Gaara say that he didn't even care about what Naruto was able to do, was like a weight off his shoulders. It was a sign of hope that maybe not everyone Naruto knew was that effected by the news of his deepest secret. It was a true comfort to know that Naruto had at least one friend that wouldn't treat him any differently. Now he had one friend that he could actually feel comfortable around.

Gaara smiled subtly before he raised his brow and sensed the crowd of genin that were coming from down the hallway. He heard them sit down at the benches outside while they discussed what they knew about their class clown.

Gaara looked over at Naruto and said, "The rest of your friends are waiting outside. Would you like me to help you to meet them?"

Naruto looked uplifted and answered, "Yeah, could you help me get up, please?"

Gaara helped to pick his best friend up and out of bed. Naruto slipped on the pair of slippers that Tsunade left for him to keep and put on his bathrobe before walking to the door with Gaara's assistance.

* * *

Tenten then said something that made Sakura stop growling to herself and come back to reality.

"Hey! There he is now!" she announced pleasantly.

Naruto had just come out of his room his re-obtained crutches, wearing a pair of hospital-made pajamas and an open bathrobe. He had fewer bandages on his face than he did when he was returned to the hospital, and now most of his bruises and facial lacerations were almost gone.

Sakura stood up and sauntered towards Naruto, her eyes shadowed as she advanced. Naruto showed off his old goofy grin as he waved to his teammate and the other genin.

"Oh! Hey, you guys! Sakura-chan, I did it! Just as I promi-"

Naruto's friendly greeting was cut short when Sakura got in close and punched him square in the face. The force of the blow caused Naruto to fall on his back hard, he dropped his crutches with a loud clatter, and he slide five feet away from her, stopping right before another room door. Gaara didn't react as fast as he could have, for the whole thing was so sudden. That and Gaara thought it was accustom to see Sakura hit Naruto like this before, in their first encounter.

"You stupid BAKA!" Sakura yelled at Naruto who was cupping his now bleeding mouth and nose.

"Oww... What was that for, Sakura-chan?" he whined back at her.

"It's _your_ fault that Sasuke-kun is in trouble! You're the reason he decided to leave! If _you_ hadn't always tried to _outshine _him, and accept defeat then he would still be with _me_! He didn't have to lose to the likes of you-you-you FREAK!" she roared at Naruto.

The blonde felt the blood drain from his head and felt a lump begin to form in his throat, to the point where it practically choked him. Upon observing the contemptuous look on Sakura's face, Naruto felt as if his heart fell into his stomach and his intestines. He felt absolutely shaken to his very core by Sakura's hatefully laced words. Sakura was about to make a step forward, causing Gaara to step forward and protect his friend, when Ino stepped up to stop Sakura herself. Shikamaru grabbed Gaara and told him to go get some help in case things were to get messy, and had him run back to the lobby for security. Shikamaru just wanted Gaara out of the way, fearing that he could lose control and respond to violence with even more violence.

Ino whirled Sakura around and yelled at her, "Sakura, what is wrong with you? If it weren't for Naruto, Sasuke would be dead or worse!"

Sakura pulled herself out of Ino's grip and slapped her friend across the face, "SHUT UP!"

"...Sakura-chan, why? I went after Sasuke for _you_... I risked my _life_ for you..." he whimpered in a broken voice.

"Well then, you should have _croaked_!" she yelled wickedly.

Sakura then pulled out a shuriken from the weapons pouch she brought with her and set her sites on Naruto, getting ready to either throw her weapon at him or run up and stab him with it.

"Sakura, NO! STOP IT!" Ino yelled for her 'friend' to stop, holding her sore cheek and reaching out her other hand to stop her. Suddenly, Hinata dropped whatever she was holding and focused a large amount of her chakra into her feet. She released a great burst of energy from her feet and vanished out of site for a few seconds. She reappeared in front of Sakura maintaining a strong Juuken fighting stance, fully ready to defend Naruto with everything she got. Sakura stopped.

She yelled, "Out of the way, Hyuga! He's mine!"

Hinata forgot her stutter completely, and stared down Sakura with raw courage.

The shy girl chewed out angrily, "I won't let you hurt him."

Sakura advanced forth. Then, Hinata rushed forward at the same time, she psyched Sakura out with a false attack. Hinata stepped forward and then took another step backward and kicked the shuriken up from Sakura's hand, embedding it into the ceiling directly above them with swan-like grace and elegance. Sakura flinched back and was about to grab for another weapon, not caring which one she grabbed next. But before she could reach for her pouch, she was stopped, completely frozen against her will. Shikamaru was holding his own signature handsign, signaling the use of his family's Shadow Possession Jutsu. He made Sakura remove and throw away her weapons pouch and kept her frozen.

"That's enough. You go any further and you'll be in more trouble than you can possibly handle, Haruno." he threatened

Sakura seethed at Shikamaru while Hinata, Lee, and Kiba came to Naruto's aide. Soon Gaara arrived with a few hospital staff workers and their Jounin sensei's.

"The hell's going on here?" asked Asuma.

Kakashi looked at the still-possessed Sakura and the other genin, confused as to what had happened.

"Sakura, what's going on?" he demanded, Kurenai backing him up.

"What's happened here? Kiba?" she questioned, noticing the shuriken embedded into the ceiling, and suspecting that maybe Kiba had done something, given his dramatic change in behavior with weaponry.

Kiba answered, "Haruno's gone nuts, I tell ya! She attacked Naruto and went in for the kill with weapon in hand!"

"Sakura!" gasped Kakashi.

He and the other jounin were absolutely outraged that Sakura would lash out at her teammate that badly.

Sakura had Shikamaru's jutsu removed from her and she turned to her sensei to sharply reassert herself.

"He deserved it! He's nothing but a stupid dobe! He's an embarrassing _miscarriage_ of the village! My parents were right about him! He's nothing but a FREAK!" she yelled.

No longer able to take any more harsh criticism from the girl that he thought he loved, Naruto pulled himself up from the floor and tossed aside his friends help, running away from everyone and leaving behind his crutches and slippers. He turned down the hall with a burst of chakra-induced speed, not wanting anyone to see him crying rivers of tears.

Sakura laughed at catching a glimpse of his tears and yelled, "That's right! Run away! YOU STUPID FREAK!"

Sakura was then forcefully turned around by Ino, and the pale blonde girl slapped her across the face, surprising everyone into motionlessness. Ino looked at her 'friends' eyes with untold anger in her own teal-blue eyes

"Leave him alone!" she yelled.

"This has nothing to do with you, Ino-Pig!" Sakura yelled at Ino, referring to her in enemy mode. Sakura looked at Ino, feeling absolutely betrayed by her best friend.

"How can you do that to him?" Ino yelled back, "He did the favor of a _lifetime_ for you, and _this_ is how you treat him? You selfish _bitch_!"

While this was happening, Kakashi tried to stop Naruto, "Naruto, WAIT!"

But it was way too late, the boy had slipped right past him and already disappeared. But Hinata chased after him with Gaara, Shino and Kiba following behind.

Hinata cried, "Naruto-kun! Hold on!"

The genin and jounin sensei's were suddenly silenced when they sensed a powerful presence enter the corridor and in came the bad tempered, lab coat-clad Lady Tsunade.

"What's going on _now_?" she demanded irritably.

Guy asserted himself, "It appears that Sakura Haruno lashed out at Naruto violently."

Kakashi turned around to his superior, "The question is why. Why did you just do that to him, Sakura?" he asked Sakura with a stern voice.

She growled through her teeth,"Because I know what he is, and what he planned to do! He's a _freak_ that deserves punishment for even _existing_. It's because of _him_ that Sasuke-kun is mad with me!"

Kakashi felt exasperated that Sakura was so much like her obnoxious parents. He made up an excuse for her to cope with Naruto and said, "Oh, for the love of-Sakura, you have to understand that Sasuke is not currently 'A-okay' in the head. Just because he probably lashed out at you, which I think he might have done, still doesn't give you the right to lash out at Naruto the way you just did. He's still your teammate."

Sakura said, "It's-still-his-fault."

Her mind was completely made up now. There would be no dissuading her now.

* * *

Hinata and the small group of boys went after Naruto to try and calm him down.

Getting close to an intersecting hallway, Hinata spoke out with an out-of-habit voice of authority, "We should split up and cover more area, I'll get the left hall here!" Hinata said to her followers.

The others nodded in agreement, and split up; Gaara going right and Shino with Kiba going straight forward. Hinata made her way down the hallway quickly, being careful not to run or bump into anyone. She stopped halfway down the long corridor and activated Byakugan, in hopes to find Naruto easier. She scanned around the quiet and almost empty hallway, when she heard a muffled voice. It sounded like someone was crying.

_Harry and Hermione by Nicholas Hooper_

Just when Hinata turned around toward the source of the noise, she spotted a familiar chakra signature hiding in a supplies closet right next to her. She deactivated her Byakugan and opened the door ever so quietly and ever so carefully. And there she saw her crush sitting down on the floor with his back to the open door. His body was curled up and he cried into his folded arms, that rested on his knees. And he sobbed into himself.

Naruto sensed someone had entered his hiding place, but he paid it no mind, he was too upset to care if someone saw him crying now.

Hinata approached the blonde calmly with tears forming in her own eyes. She knew what it was like to sink into yourself when you were upset. She understood when you were too ashamed to let anyone see you being so callow and weak. But at the same time, when you were like that, you couldn't stand suffering by yourself. The one thing Hinata knew what you would need in those kind of times, was a friend to confide in.

Hinata lowered herself down to Naruto's level on the floor, and before she could control herself, she turned him around and hugged him close to her. Naruto sobbed into her shoulder, realizing who it was that disturbed him. He continued to cry until he slowly began to calm down and eased down into slow, shaky breaths.

Hinata normally would have fainted by now, being _this close _to the boy she had been secretly crushing on for _years_. But somehow, after seeing Naruto so heartbroken and vulnerable as she had seen in herself, gave her the courage to reach out to him and willed her the strength to stop herself from blushing beat-red and fainting.

Hardly anyone had reached out to help Hinata ever since her mother died. She sometimes had Kurenai-sensei to look up to like an older sister, but it wasn't enough to help her deal with her true inner turmoil and insecurities.

Then she saw Naruto the way she saw herself give up in defeat. This opportunity gave Hinata no reason to let someone she cared about to suffer the same ways she did herself. And so she held Naruto close to her, until she felt his body go limp in a sudden sleep spell. Just then, Kiba and the other boys found Hinata and Naruto in the supply closet, with Kiba in the lead.

"Hinata! There you are! Did you find Naru-" Kiba started to ask until he saw Naruto himself.

But then he saw, what would appear from his point of view, Naruto having collapsed right into Hinata's breasts.

"EH?"

Kiba froze in shock, his eyes as white and round as saucers with his mouth wide open.

Gaara and Shino both stoically ignored Kiba's antics and walked past him to help carry Naruto back to his room. Gaara made a few simple gestures with his hands and manipulated the sand of his gourd to come out and lift Naruto up from Hinata and carried him away back to his room. They all left the supply closet, leaving Kiba behind, still completely frozen at seeing Naruto unconsciously motorboat his sister-teammate.

* * *

Gaara and Shino both laid Naruto down on the bed, Shino then placed the sheets over Naruto. Hinata had picked up what she had dropped before; a small, plastic vase with a daffodil flower. She quickly replaced the spilled water, and placed it on the bedside table. The other genin were nowhere to be found close by. The kids and the jounin sensei's were kicked out for having caused a disturbance in the hospital. This left Shino, Hinata, Gaara, and the absent Kiba in the free and clear, seeing as they had left to pursue Naruto and weren't yelled at by Lady Tsunade.

Gaara soon said that he had to get back to his siblings and continue their mission to help provide for Konoha. As soon as he left, having bid his farewell to his fellow jinchuuriki and best friend, he looked back at the blonde, sad that he was now suffering at the hands of the people he claimed to have cared about. He asked Shino and Hinata that if Naruto ever had the chance to come to Suna for the upcoming Chunin Selection Exams, then he should come to his royal residence for a visit, instead of having to stay at a hotel. They both agreed to tell him this and let Gaara leave, feeling comfortable.

Hinata sat down in a chair close to Naruto's bed and watched the blonde sleep for a while, Shino sat down beside her in another pulled up chair.

She couldn't believe that Sakura would do something so badly to her own teammate. Hinata got a tiny bit irritated whenever she bared witness to Sakura hitting Naruto for doing something foolish or making a small mistake. And she hid her upset feelings when her crush would do nothing to stop her and go crawling back to Sakura like a loyal puppy.

But this incident did not deserve a shuriken to be drawn onto you.

Sakura went over the edge with violence this time. And it left it's mark on everyone, including Naruto the most.

What was strange, was that Sakura had absolutely no motive or reason to do what she did. She mindlessly broke Naruto's heart for no reason (at least from the other genin's knowledge).

Hinata felt so sorry for the boy she cared for so much, "How could she, Shino-kun? How could Sakura let Naruto-kun suffer like this?"

Shino glanced to his teammate behind his sunglasses.

"He goes through hell and b-back to bring back her beloved Sasuke, and she still t-treats him worse than she did before..." Hinata slowly reached out and cupped Naruto's hand with her own, "You would've thought that after all they've b-been through in the exams, while on m-missions, or what they've experienced as a team, they would've become closer as friends o-or more." Hinata stuttered quietly.

"But instead, this happens, for whatever reason." Shino concluded.

"I guess so..." Hinata answered, still not forming a solid reason as to why Sakura lashed out at Naruto.

Shino noticed how tenderly Hinata held Naruto's hand, and the way she blushed when she looked at him, and when she would occasionally rub his palm with her thumb.

Shino asked monotonically, "You have very strong feelings for Naruto, don't you Hinata?"

"EEP!" Hinata squeaked at Shino finding her out, and finally blushed heavily and closed her eyes in nervousness, "Umm... A-am I really that obvious?"

"Uhhh...Yes." he answered, causing Hinata to sink her head suddenly.

"Oh..." she responded, a little embarrassed at being found out.

"I won't tell anyone, Hinata. But the blushing and fainting in front of him isn't exactly subtle to anyone." Shino told her.

Hinata sharply turned her head up to Shino in fright, "D-do you think Naruto-kun knows?"

Shino responded with, "Oh-no, he doesn't. He's an idiot."

Hinata sighed in relief, but then looked at Shino more earnestly, "Shino... how can I ever get him to like me or notice me? T-this stupid st-stutter of mine will not help my cause at all."

"Your stutter is really getting better. You just have to keep holding up that same courage it took for you to go and hug and comfort Naruto. As for getting him to like you, why don't you first try to become his friend and gradually grow closer to him as the days, months, and years go by." Shino advised Hinata.

"... Shino how do you know all of this...?" Hinata asked, clearly confused that Shino knew how human relationships work.

"I read it in this." Shino withdrew a white covered book from his coat that read, _Miso Soup, for the Teenage Soul_. The cover showing the image of an ordinary bowl of soup with a background of two adolescents walking while holding hands.

"Oh... Very helpful book." said Hinata, "But, d-do you think that might work, Shino-kun?"

Shino shrugged in response. Then Shino looked around the room and asked, "Say, where's Kiba?"

"Oh, I forgot all about him!" Hinata realized.

Shino got up and stopped Hinata from leaving her chair.

"I will get him. You can stay with Naruto. Make sure he's okay and such." Shino told Hinata as if he ordered her to do so.

She nodded in agreement and smiled when he exited the door, "Thank you, Shino-kun."

And she turned back to Naruto and watched him sleep peacefully for the rest of her time visiting him.

* * *

Later the next morning Sasuke was being escorted by his usual pair of ANBU. They led him to the village gates, his backpack was filled with storage scrolls containing almost _all_ of his personal items from the Uchiha estate. He carried his things over his sleeves as he approached the gates with a grim look on his face.

Although he felt fortunate he was not going to jail, he was still unhappy to be sent away to this Rehabilitation Clinic. None of the sensei's were going to come to his aide to train him, and he was cut off from any other person powerful enough for his taste.

As he reached the gate, he looked back at Konoha, like he did when he first defected from it and he said to himself in his thoughts.

'... _I swear to you, Naruto, wherever you are now... When I get out of rehab, I will track you down... I will find you and I will make you suffer... to your very-last-breath...You will meet the same fate as Itachi will at my hand..._'

And with his everlasting vow, he turned around and followed his escorts down his road to rehabilitation.

* * *

To Be Continued

**

* * *

FINALS ARE OVER! Rejoice everyone, who hath suffered from thy tests and thy examinations-eth!**

**SUMMER IS HERE! WHOO!**

**Man, I am happy! Get ready readers 'cause I'll be updating a lot more frequently for the next several months.**

**I hope this chapter has been good. I will most likely make this a NaruHina pairing, but there is going to be a lot of development for that to be possible. I feel that maybe those Anti-NaruHina fans out there will end up liking Hinata being with Naruto, with what I have in store for her development.**

**That's all I have for now, guys. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Next Time: The Student-Teacher Bond**

**Read and Review, please!**


	7. The Student Teacher Bond

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah'**_: Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Hello everyone, I'm back again with a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this one. **

**Naruto will soon get his life back together and find some peace and stability with the help of the people who wish to help him. But he needs the help of one particular person, but he needs to **_**let**_** that person back in. But it isn't Iruka, or Harry, or even Jiraiya or Sarutobi . . . Then who is it? **

**Read and find out, kay? Enjoy it everybody! This chapter and all the others are re-written! ****:)**

* * *

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

Chapter 6: The Student-Teacher Bond

* * *

_Several Months after the Skirmish at the Hospital...  
_

Naruto woke up groggily to the irritating alarm clock he had next to his bed, as he did every morning for over a month. He slammed his alarm clock and reset it to ring the same time for the next morning.

'_**G'morning Konoha! C'mon Naru-chan! One, two! One, two! Let's-get-up!' **_Harry mentally awoke Naruto, like an obnoxious radio show speaker.

Naruto couldn't sleep at all last night. The bags in his much sharper looking eyes showed just how much sleep he had _really_ been lacking. For he would wake up constantly, from dreams of aggressive villagers, people with cameras flashing in his face, and monstrous versions of Sasuke chasing after him with bloody fangs and vicious claws trying to slice him into pieces. Naruto could barely bring himself to fall asleep, knowing what he would _inevitably_ scream awake to. Naruto, often times, asked Iruka if he could stay at his house on many nights lately, not that Iruka minded it at all. At least, while he slept at his house, Naruto could often sleep and dream peacefully, because Iruka slept in the same room as him. But the nights were still very difficult to endure, and the life in the day-time was no better for him.

Naruto looked around his tiny bedroom; the worn out walls and dull paint job gave off a bad vibe, just as the rest of his apartment always had. He got up and out of bed sluggishly, and went to his kitchen to get his breakfast ready. All he found in his kitchen was a bag of slightly stale, half-finished bread and some ramen cups.

Toast it would be.

He checked his fridge for anything to drink, and for some butter or jam to go with his toast. All he had was an expired milk carton, and no butter or jam to be found.

Just perfect.

He set his toaster for one minute, putting the bread in place to be cooked. And he walked back to his tiny bathroom to shower. Naruto relaxed for five blissful minutes, as the hot water ran through his messy hair and he washed himself with whatever soap he had left. He took a mental note to go shopping soon. He usually didn't spend anything unless he really needed it. And now it was about time to restock on everything he needed once more.

Once done with his shower, he got out, the small room completely filled with steam, he rubbed his towel over him to dry and wrapped said towel around his waist. Naruto padded out of his bathroom, steam escaping everywhere once the door was opened. And he walked down to his kitchen, smelling his toast. He popped it out of the toaster and grabbed a bite of it while it was still a little warm. He then walked back to his bedroom to get dressed. Opening his clothes drawer, he picked out a dark red t-shirt with a black Deathly Hallows symbol emblazoned on the front, green boxers, and a pair of baggy, olive-colored pants and belt. He also reached next to his bed and put on some sneakers. Tsunade had him start wearing them, after his feet were lined with cuts, scrapes, and thorns lodged into them, after he fled from the meeting over a month ago. Naruto decided to keep wearing them and a pair of socks, until he could afford new zori sandals, which he lost over a month ago.

Once dressed, he tied white bandages around the right thigh of his olive pants and strapped a kunai holster on top. He clipped his weapons pouch on the back of his pants. And then tied his Konoha leaf headband, instead of around his forehead, he tied it around his neck. He admitted to Harry recently that his headband felt much more comfortable around his neck as opposed to having it around his forehead all day, making his forehead sweaty and extremely irritated at the end of the day.

(A/N: Those headbands from Hot Topic are just irritating on the forehead, aren't they?)

He left his bedroom and pocketed his wand, now fully satisfied that he was ready to go. He ate the rest of his now cold and unsatisfying toast and exited his apartment grabbing his new dark, navy blue sports-jacket which replaced his old orange clothes. He then locked the door on his way out with a tap of his wand, instead of using his keys (Which he lost a while back).

(A/N: Try to imagine Naruto wearing the same outfit Harry wore during the scenes of him at the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire movie, only he's wearing _some_ ninja weapons.)

Naruto walked down the open hall, and walked into the day light. Normally he would have done his morning stretches and run as fast as he could and begin hopping from rooftop to rooftop. The sky was grayish today, and small bits of blue sky could be seen through the thick clouds.

Naruto began to wonder if the weather probably reflected how he felt today; dull with diminished hope.

Looking at his watch, Naruto imagined that he would be a few minutes early if he ran to the meeting bridge. But instead, he decided to walk down the streets and stop by a few of his favorite shops before going to the bridge. Not seeing any reason to be early to a mission he knew would be a D-Rank. He would also get to spend less time with his team that way.

* * *

Sakura arrived on time, at the bridge where Team 7 had always met everyday, ever since it's formation over a year ago.

She looked slightly different now, Sakura decided to re-grow her hair long again. And it now she had grown four inches longer in one month. Her leaf headband held her hair in place and out of her eyes. She also wore a slightly different qipao dress, that was still the same in color, only it showed off her navel in a wide, diamond shaped hole on the stomach part of her dress, and went around her relatively slim waistline. Sakura had bragged about it ever since she bought it. Insisting that it made her seem more grown up and sophisticated, and would appease her 'Sasuke-kun'. While anyone else with any sliver of common sense would instead call it more... slutty for her.

At least that's what Harry thought in his chambers, sticking his finger into his mouth, making fake gagging noises everytime she would open her mouth. Other than that bit, everything about her appearance was about the same.

Sakura leaned against the rail on the side of the bridge, waiting impatiently for Naruto and Kakashi to show up.

About ten minutes later, Naruto suddenly, or rather, magically appeared down the street with a loud crack. Clearly, he had Disapparated from wherever he was last located. Sakura hadn't heard the loud and distinct crack, and even more so the impressive-looking multi-colored blob which then spat Naruto out into existence before slamming down hard upon the ground. Once recovered, Naruto walked over to the bridge with a very tired and detached look in his eyes.

Sakura saw him approaching the bridge, and appeared to be listening to his new iPod. Which was a gift from Jiraiya, for his belated thirteenth birthday.

Seeing an opportunity to belittle her teammate, Sakura smirked and called out, "Hey, Naruto-baka! You're late!"

Naruto clearly didn't hear her, being more interested and attentive to the song he was humming subtly.

_Drink up baby doll,_

_Are you in or are you out?_

_Leave your things behind,_

'_Cause it's all going off without you,_

Sakura was not pleased with being ignored by the likes of him.

"Hey! BAKA! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Now Sakura was yelling at him, and yet, he still continued to ignore her and listen to his song on his iPod.

_Excuse me, too busy, you're writing your tragedy,_

_These mishaps,You bubble-wrap,_

_When you've no idea what you're like,_

Sakura got pissed off now, and sauntered over to her messy-haired teammate.

_So, let go, so let go, _

_Jump in, _

_Oh well, what you waitin-_

Sakura interrupted Naruto's lyrical appreciation by punching him in the head, very hard.

"OUCH!" he yelled.

His headphones flew right out of his ears with a pinch of pain, and Naruto rubbed the large lump that instantly swelled on top of his head. He then snapped towards Sakura with a livid expression stained on his face.

"What is your problem?" Naruto yelled at Sakura.

She retorted coldly, "Listen to me when I talk to you, Baka!"

Naruto's eyes darkened from her sight, as he slowly put his jet-black iPod and headphones back into his deep pocket. He began to slightly shake in anger. He fairly managed to control his magic from going out of control, thanks to his Occlumency training. Though, that's not to say it didn't help him _totally_ control his emotions so much as it helped keep his magic in control.

"...That's not my name..." Naruto growled ever so quietly.

"What was that, Baka?" Sakura dared to provoke him. Insistently calling him Baka, instead of his actual name.

Naruto then exploded in anger, "I said, that's not my name, you bloody cun-"

"Yo!" Interrupted the familiar outspoken voice of Kakashi-sensei, from atop the bridges north archway. Preventing Naruto from uttering one of the worst swear words anyone could ever dare to speak.

Sakura's attention was drawn towards their sensei, and she yelled solely, "YOU'RE LATE, AGAIN!"

Kakashi swept down to the bridge swiftly, and walked up to his two students with an eye-smile.

"Sorry that I'm a little late. These two little kids had their cat stuck on top of a telephone pole. And I _had_ to help them get their Mr. Porkins down safe."

Sakura smirked at her sensei, "You seem to be a little _unscratched_ to have helped a stressful cat." she challenged his excuse.

Kakashi sweat-dropped comically, rubbing the back of his head in joking nervousness.

"Well-I just helped the little kitty at a distance, so he wouldn't scratch me."

Sakura made a scoff of strong disbelief, "YOU LIAR!"

Kakashi then popped the question to both of them jokingly, "So were you two love-birds getting along?"

Immediately, Sakura looked disgusted and insulted, while Naruto just looked irritated that he was being referred in question by his _sensei_. And he looked away and tried channeling out his hearing for the next several minutes, knowing full well what Sakura would say about him. He had been taking this continuous crap from her ever since they started doing missions again the last month and a half.

"PFT! Yeah right! Naruto-baka barely _categorizes_ as a _man_! Let alone a human being!" she reacted, pointing at Naruto rudely.

Kakashi immediately regretted adding in that single adjective, seeing Naruto's frame darkened just behind her. Clearly he had failed to ignore her loud and obnoxious tween voice.

"Now Sakura, play nice this time around, _okay_?" Kakashi asked with a scolding tone in his voice and a sigh of exasperation.

He turned over to Naruto to help him forget what he heard her just say, knowing how heart broken Naruto has been since that day in the hospital. He could remember standing in the crowd of on-lookers in disguise as he and the others watched and observed Naruto's monthly evaluation examinations, testing the limits of his magical powers. He could remember seeing the expression on Naruto's face throughout all of those days being just as blank and dark then as it was now. His student was so good at concealing most of his emotions, that he could have passed the ANBU Recruitment Exam just as easily as Kakashi himself did many years ago. But seeing the dead-look in Naruto's face only dampened Kakashi. It just didn't feel in the least bit right to see Naruto look and act in a way that was scarily similar to his old self.

To break that frown on his student's face, Kakashi asked him with half-hearted enthusiasm."Well, Naruto? Are you excited for a new mission today?"

Naruto stared at Kakashi with dull blue eyes and didn't say a thing, and then looked back towards the waters of the creek.

'_There he goes, acting as if nothing had even happened since the events of the Chunin Exams..._' Naruto thought.

Naruto noticed how the flowing water lacked the reflecting shine it usually held when he came down here to meet his team. The sun was blocked by the dark grey clouds up above them, looming like shadow over the once light world of his.

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, but then said with the same level of enthusiasm as before, "We might get lucky, and get a C-Rank mission this time. How about that?" he asked his student.

Naruto answered stoically, "I don't care."

Kakashi sighed noiselessly. Naruto hadn't change a bit in the time after Team 7 was almost completely reunited. Naruto was still dark and unfriendly and didn't show any signs of returning back to normal anytime soon.

"Well, of course you should _care_, Naruto. I thought you would be ecstatic about taking on a challenging mission." Kakashi calmly reasoned.

Sakura scoffed yet again, refusing to let the mood brighten anymore, "Yeah right! Like a wimp like him could do anything worth a challenge!"

Kakashi turned a little angry and irritated at Sakura's cruelty, and snapped his head at her with an angry and furrowed eye.

"Sakura, that's enough." he said sternly.

Naruto continued to brood darkly, and Kakashi sighed when looking in between his two remaining students, "Well, we better get going then. To the mission desk, team."

"Whatever." Naruto replied, as he and Sakura followed Kakashi to the mission desk. With Kakashi occasionally looking back and hoping to see a glimpse of Naruto's former self return to the surface.

* * *

Team 7 was not given a C-Rank mission, Kakashi had been hoping to get Naruto excited for. In fact, they haven't had a single mission above D-Rank with the absence of one of their members.

Instead of something exciting, Team 7 was given the assignment of tending the garden of an elderly villager a little bit outside of the city, near the forests. She was the creator of several very rare crossbred flowers, and she needed careful assistance with her garden for she was slightly ill and lacked the strength to do it herself.

Sakura was excited, for she was well experienced in floral arts. So the mission wouldn't be a problem for her, so long as Naruto and Kakashi didn't mess up or slow her down. Meanwhile, Naruto didn't care either way. In fact, he hardly cared about any D-Rank mission they've had in the past month. Each of their missions were all relatively successful, only Naruto held very little faith in fulfilling their assignments correctly. Whether it was catching the Daimyo's cat again, or weeding out a villagers lawn, Naruto just did what he was told, and did it as soon as he could. Completely uncaring of the quality of his performance. Often times, he would hide his wand under the sleeve of his new jacket and make his job faster.

Magic, fortunately, could help him this time around. After all, he was already well-practiced in plant-related spells and Herbology. But ever since he had been through the months of evaluation exams, the Council deemed that Naruto should only use it whenever it was truly necessary and should not use it excessively in the risk of becoming overly-dependent of it. Having no other choice, Naruto had to obey and would only use his wand in cases whenever it was needed. Should one of his supervisors (Kakashi) see him using his magic throughout all of any of his missions, was to report him. And if Naruto received anymore than three total warnings, then his wand would have to be confiscated. Basically putting him below the levels of a typical house elf.

'_Tending to flowers is not a mission. It's a household chore!_' Naruto thought with irritance.

The only bright side of this mission was probably their client, Harumi Aimi. She was a very kind, elderly woman, and Naruto liked her almost at once. Because never a single time did she look or say anything to Naruto with any hatred or contempt. Harumi showed Naruto nothing more than unconditional kindness. She even pinched his cheek gently, calling him the most darn-right handsome gentleman she had seen in her years.

Kakashi giggled silently at this gesture while Sakura scoffed in response.

Harumi-san, who was rather short due to old age, had a full head of long snow-white hair, tan pruned skin, and violet-colored eyes. She _did_ seem like she should be in bed resting. But she was well enough to personally greet the ninja she had hired. All she needed was some of her heavy potted plants to be arranged so that they could absorb more sunlight for the summer season. And her famous crossbred flowers (that were also potted) had to be moved for the same reasons. She also said that she needed them to go out and lightly water all of her plants, seeing as she wasn't well enough the previous day to water them.

When they got straight to work, Sakura and Naruto immediately worked on separate ends of the garden. They both moved their individual pots across the garden, Sakura having more difficulty moving them due to her lack of physical training, but she endured. Naruto effortlessly moved his share of the pots, but glared at Kakashi angrily for not helping. Instead, he was up one of the trees nearby, reading his Icha-Icha Paradise while giggling to himself perversely. When he said earlier that he would be supervising as well as helping them when needed.

Naruto and Sakura soon worked on moving the smaller pots of flowers into the sunlight path. After that, Naruto started to water all of Harumi-sans' flowers carefully on his side of the garden, while Sakura rearranged the flowers on her side. Naruto was about half-way done with sparing the water with his given spray bottle. When he noticed a particular flower that was still rooted to the earth below him;

It was a lily, the most beautiful lily Naruto had ever seen. At least, out of the very few he care to pay attention to. It was very unique breed for a lily. Instead of looking like a simple pattern of two linear colors, it had a swirl design of lavender and deep purple. And had two very peculiar buds in the open center, that looked like two pale, lavender pearls. Naruto had never seen a flower like this before. He couldn't help but feel mesmerized by it's beauty and unique shape and colour.

The flower, oddly enough, reminded him of Hinata. He remembered how she found him in the utility closet, and reached out to comfort him in his humiliation. Naruto soon closed his eyes in remembrance and thought back to all the times he had known Hinata for. She was always so kind to him. How she would offer healing ointments everytime he would hurt himself, or simply say hello to him when they passed by or just happened to come across each other for what ever reasons they had. Hell, she was one of the few people in the whole village who had remembered his birthday last year.

Thinking it over, there was something about her that made Naruto want to better himself. She was always so kind to everyone who deserved the kind treatment, and since when did Naruto ever perform random acts of kindness like her?

The only thing he remembered doing for her was cheering her on in her fight against her cousin Neji. Other than that, he couldn't think of anything else apart from that and actually fighting Neji in the Chunin Exams for her.

He wanted to see her again soon. He never properly thanked her for the hug she gave him or the flower she gifted to him, or even the encouragement she gave him before _he_ faced off with Neji. Naruto thought that maybe he could pluck this flower from the ground and gift it to her as an offering. Excited with his unclear plan, he reached out to pluck it. But then Sakura's hurtful fist kissed his head once again.

"YOUCH!"

She had hit the same place as before this morning, making the swell on Naruto's head hurt even worse. Naruto noticed, to his disappointed shock, that Sakura had squashed the flower, he had planned to take, with her sandaled foot.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" he yelled at Sakura fiercely, whilst getting up on his feet.

"Pay attention, you moron!" she yelled back, "I'm doing all the work here! Arranging the flowers and bringing finesse to Harumi-san's garden! And all you're doing is drooling over a single flower! Are you high? Because, I wouldn't be surprised if you were. Now get to work, you lazy freak!"

"Screw you, Haruno!" Naruto rebuked at Sakura, he whipped out his wand and pointed his wand at her throat.

Sakura screamed, "DON'T YOU POINT THAT THING AT ME!"

Seeing this coming a mile ahead, Harry tried to hold Naruto back with words and a mild amount of control with magic (showing that he really wouldn't mind seeing Sakura getting cursed), '_**EASY! Naruto, she's not ****worth ****it...'**_

Kakashi sensed the disturbance from the distance away and saw Naruto whip out his weapon and point at Sakura. He then felt a burst of killing-intent erupt out from Naruto, all of it aimed solely on Sakura. Kakashi discarded his book immediately and jumped down from the tree he was sitting on top of and stepped in between the two fighting teens, stopping whatever was about to break out.

"Hey-hey-hey! What's going on here you two?" Kakashi scolded sternly,

"This baka was just staring at a flower instead of doing his work! I'm almost finished, and he's not even half-way done yet!" Sakura argued, while pointing her bossy finger at Naruto, who regrettably pocketed back his wand.

Kakashi sighed again, pointing his index finger in a matter-of-fact gesture, "First of all, Sakura; stop hitting Naruto all the time. Violence never solves anything for anybody. Having the top grades upon your graduation from the Academy you of all people should know that... And Naruto; don't you _ever_ point that thing at a comrade from your own village like that again. You're being no better than Sasuke from when he..."

Kakashi paused for a second, at seeing the look on Naruto's face. For a second Naruto had a look of sheer horror on his face and his hand clenched at the scar that remained on his chest from the Chidori that Sasuke had stabbed him with.

Kakashi continued, "...Well, you're aware of that already, I don't have to repeat it."

Both genin stiffened and slightly trembled at Kakashi domineering growl of command and stood away from each other (Sakura taking more steps away from Naruto more so than Naruto himself). Sakura kept eying the place where Naruto hid his wand securely, afraid to ever have it pointed at her person again. From what her parents told her about the magic they saw him perform in his evaluations, Sakura quickly grew to be fearful and highly resentful of magic all together.

"Now Naruto..." Kakashi started, "Try to pay attention to your assignment. I know it's boring, but you have to give it _all_ your effort for it to succeed. Kay?"

Naruto's previous terror at being reminded of the incident at the Valley of the End quickly turned into hatred aimed at his sensei. Naruto grunted at his teacher, and looked away in aggressive frustration. He then rushed away to finish watering the rest of the plants he had yet to water. Sakura, upon recovering from Naruto's physical threat, 'humphed' in satisfaction and walked back briskly to her blissful flower arranging.

Once both his genin students turned away from him to do their job, Kakashi sighed again at seeing Naruto's expression of darkness become all the more dark, fearing that Naruto's resentment of him only further deepened.

* * *

Team 7 finished their jobs with Harumi-san's garden by the time it reached to the late afternoon, and bursts of orange and golden light managed to break through the clouds of western horizon. Team 7 had then gathered in front of Harumi-san's front door to collect their pay, and receive her personal gratitude.

"There you go you three; forty-five thousand ryo. As I had promised you." Harumi-san smiled, giving them their pay.

Sakura fake-smiled back to her, probably unsatisfied with the pay she got after she had arranged her flowers in the greatest and most pain-staking way she could imagine possible.

"Thank you. Your garden is really lovely." she lied in a sweet tone that made Naruto and Harry want to puke.

Kakashi bowed slightly, in respect, "It was no problem helping you, Harumi-san."

Team 7 turned around to leave and started walking away steadily, but Naruto pretended to walk along with them before discreetly lagging behind on purpose. He wanted to ask Harumi-san something in private. He walked back to the old florist woman and coughed to let his presence be known to her. Harumi turned around to see the adorable young man return to her and patiently awaited him to speak with a warm smile on her wrinkled face.

Naruto asked nervously, "... Um-Harumi-san?"

"Hmm?" she responded.

Naruto asked as kindly as he could, aiming to get that flower for Hinata, "D-do you think I could _have_ one of your crossbreed purple flowers, please?"

Harumi-san smiled warmly at the teen again, like a grandmother would to a favored grandchild.

"Of course, dear." she said offering Naruto another of the same exact flower he saw get squished by Sakura earlier, only it was already wrapped beautifully with a transparent bag of it's seeds in a hand-woven mini flower bouquet wrap.

Naruto was surprised and taken aback that she knew which one he wanted, "How did you-"

"I saw you starring at one of them earlier, dear. My Aika-Aimi lilies are my favorite as well. They're a symbol for new beginnings, kindness, and true love." she smiled kindly again, giving Naruto the wrapped flower.

"T-thank you so much, Harumi-san!" he thanked genuinely and fully bowed to her. Earning a warm smile from the kindly old woman. She retreated her old arms within the confines of the sleeves of her robes and sighed pleasantly.

"The way you stared at the flower so intently, no doubt you must be planning on gifting it to someone you admire very much, aren't you?"

Naruto's droopy eyes widened briefly, and then he blushed lightly, "Yeah... I think a friend of mine would like it..." he said with hope in his voice.

Harumi-san looked a little concerned, and lowered her voice to him, "Pray it be not that 'banshee-girl' your partners with. She is not a keeper, if you ask me, dear. She looks and acts like a she-devil hag, and _I'm_ an old woman!"

Naruto's eyes went comically white and saucer-round for a brief second in reaction to what she said about Sakura.

"Y-yeah... Definitely not her..." he assured offhandedly.

Harumi-san smiled again, "A boy like you deserves a girl who would treat you kindness, not hostility and."

She pinched Naruto's cheek like before and said, "You'd better catch up with your team, young man. Before you are missed. Go on, now." she shooed him away kindly.

Naruto panicked at how further away the rest of Team 7 had walked without noticing his absence. They were already about to several football fields away from him and were almost going to make the turn back down the road to the village.

"Oh, man! Thank you, again, Harumi-san!" he called to her as he started running back to his team.

The kind old woman waved him goodbye and watched him conceal his free flowers within the confines of his jacket, Harumi sighed sadly when he disappeared down the dirt-road path and out of site.

'_That poor boy... He's suffered for far too long... Kami bless him..._'

* * *

_Claire de Lune by Debussy (It's really great music! __:J)_

The garden tending mission actually took up a majority of Team 7's day to accomplish. By the time they got back to the village, the sun had already begun to set and turn to twilight. Casting a glow of bright orange over the entire village, although it was still a little bit cloudy like this earlier dreary morning. The rush of citizens began by now, where villagers, ninja, and children alike were finishing work for the day or getting out of school and playing down the streets. The streets themselves were filled with people, rushing to get home while others that were holding cameras and hiding notepads in their clothes kept darting their gazes and looking for the local village celebrity Naruto. Kakashi waited for the local ANBU authorities to find the get rid of the paparazzi once he signaled for them and tried to lead his students to a more discrete location to bid farewell for the day. Nearby the park, on the cobblestone path was a good enough location.

"Okay team," Kakashi turned to Naruto and Sakura, still reading his Icha-Icha Paradise, "That just about wraps things up for the day, wouldn't you think?"

He didn't wait for either one of them to answer and went on ahead with his speech.

"Then I guess that's it! We will meet tomorrow, same time and place as usual. So long and keep out of trouble." he ended with his eye-smile.

Sakura turned and leave and tried to get as much distance away from her partner as possible. Naruto also turned around to leave and was starting to walk away when Kakashi unexpectedly stopped him.

"Naruto..." Kakashi's voice beckoned to him.

He turned back around to Kakashi with an uninterested and irritated look on his face, "Hmm?"

Kakashi continued to eye-smile at him, "Are you a little hungry after working on a garden all day? The two of us can go down to Ichiraku Ramen right now, if you like." he offered to his clearly depressed student.

But what the Copy-Ninja heard next, was not the answer he would normally expect from a passionate ramen addict like Naruto Uzumaki.

"No." he said flatly.

Kakashi felt a painful churn in his stomach at the tone in Naruto's voice, and to his refusal to be invited to his favorite place on the planet to eat.

"Are you sure? I promise to pay for what you get. No strings attached, Naruto." he tried offering again.

Naruto looked very stoic and yet calculating, in a way that was very similar to Sasuke's normal behavior back in the old days. For a second, Kakashi could have sworn he saw a ghostly image cloak over Naruto as he said the following words.

"I'm not hungry. No thank you." he said coldly.

Feeling sad, defeated, and rejected by his own student, Kakashi closed his eyes sadly and said, "Alright, if that's what you want. Are you sure?"

He hoped that maybe, just maybe that Naruto would change his mind and take on his earlier offer, so he could have the chance to talk to him again. But instead, Naruto just looked irritated that his teacher was filibustering his clear answer.

"I have to get home. I'm tired. 'Night."

With that, Naruto blended into the crowds of people walking by and disappeared into the streets of the village, leaving Kakashi standing all alone. Kakashi sighed and pocketed his Icha-Icha Paradise and walked to the mission desk office to turn in his mission report.

* * *

The starry sky was not visible to the human eye in the heart of Konoha. All due to the thriving city's bright lights and brightly lit and colorful billboard advertisements. Kakashi walked down the streets, having finally finished his mission report for the day, leaving out the details of Naruto drawing his wand out on Sakura. He was now looking down at the ground, not even bothering to pull out his pervy book and entertain himself out into a temporary bliss. He was too concerned over his remaining male student and depressed over the fact that he hated him so much.

He just didn't know how Naruto could still hate him after all the time that has passed since Sasuke was sent away from the village and to the islands of the Eastern Ocean. He doubted that Naruto missed the Uchiha, seeing as he tried to kill him, had already betrayed him to save his own skin, and mocked him about shortly after. He managed to conclude that he must still be mad at him for training Sasuke, and leaving him behind without a single word. Sure, what he did was harsh and stupid, leaving Naruto behind. But he didn't expect Naruto to hate him this much for so long, it was so long ago.

Kakashi couldn't figure out why Naruto was still so mad at him, even when he was now giving him his attention and trying to make up for what he denied him. Kakashi stopped to look up at the night's sky, unhappy that he couldn't see the stars with all these irritating city lights. He sighed and his stomach growled slightly. It would've been nice if he and Naruto could've gone for ramen. Ichiraku's made _good_ ramen.

He decided, since the restaurant was close by, to get a quick bite to eat before he would wrap up the night. Even if eating alone does look pretty pathetic.

The familiar smell of delicious ramen filled Kakashi's masked nostrils once he approached the restaurant a few minutes later. From outside, he could hear Teuchi playing the newly purchased radio he bought for the restaurant playing the song Move Away by The Killers. Not his favorite song in the world, but it sounded pretty good to listen to while he ate in a few minutes. But just as Kakashi was about to pull back one of the curtains and enter, he heard two familiar voices inside.

"... So you just told him you weren't hungry, blew him off, and then came here to talk to me instead, Naruto?" asked the disappointed voice of Iruka Umino.

"... I just didn't want to talk to him..." answered Naruto's voice. He sounded like he had a lot more emotions coming out in his voice than what he staged these past few months.

Kakashi decided to keep out of view from Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, so the conversation between Iruka and Naruto wouldn't be interrupted by the Copy-Ninja. He then listened intently to what the two of them were saying. Hoping to get some inside information on what Naruto thought of him and the reasons as to why it were so. Being a shinobi, this was practically considered this to be a high-importance reconnaissance mission he was determined to accomplish.

"And how does that make _you_ the better person, now? Even if Kakashi did all that effing crap to you before, two wrongs never make a right." Iruka said sternly to his old student.

Naruto grieved, "... He wouldn't understand... You know how he is... He doesn't care as much as you, Hayate, or Harry do... He just... doesn't..."

Iruka paused for a few seconds before talking, "I won't deny that he tends to be a little... Detached and stupidly insensitive, but it _does_ sounds like he was _really_ trying to move past everything that's happened and try to start over."

Naruto sighed, starring at his almost empty ramen bowl. He took his chopsticks and twirled around with the three remaining two-inch long noodles swimming in his broth and swirled them in his bowl. At one point, he took his one chopstick and removed one of the noodle in the bundle of three and moved it away and to the other side of the bowl and started thinking.

Iruka then said, placing his hand on top Naruto's messy mop, "I wouldn't have said this a few months ago, but I'm saying it now, because it feels right; Can't you try to give Kakashi a second chance?"

Naruto paused before saying, "How do you give someone another chance, if they don't deserve it. He never wanted to talk to me before, so why should I let him in now, Iruka-aniki?"

"You know everyone deserves a second chance, Naruto... Even Kakashi..."

"... He and his _prodigy_ have been given enough chances by the likes of me... Remember when I asked my _sensei_ what day it was on October tenth last year? I asked him so many times until he told me, 'Naruto, stop pestering me. It's Tuesday, alright?" Naruto accurately imitated Kakashi with a perfect vocal imitation.

"That insensitive _clod_ didn't even _know_ it was my birthday, and where does he go? To go train Sasuke again for the whole day..." Naruto said with an furious and hurt tone.

Just outside the curtains, Kakashi's eye widened and he smacked himself in the face for his stupidity once he realized the date on that particular day.

'_I forgot his birthday, too? What is wrong with me?'_ Kakashi grieved.

"And let us not forget the last time I gave Sasuke Uchiha a second chance. And what came out of it? The court hearing of the century! That's what came out of that blind trust." he growled out, "There were a lot of times I gave _both_ of them more than a few chances. I don't see why I should give Kakashi-sensei any more of my time. If he didn't _bother_ giving me some of his when I needed him." he ended more quietly.

Kakashi outside, hung his head down in shame.

Iruka sighed, and Naruto looked back down into his bowl and separated the one noodle apart from the remaining group of three that were left swimming, just like before and spoke his mind over what to do, "Sometimes, I just want to quit Team 7. And stop getting up in the morning to be tormented with the reminder of the trust I gave to the wrong people..."

Kakashi looked horrified to hear this and was tempted to jump in and try to change Naruto's mind. But then Iruka said, "That's a load of crap, Naruto."

"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, surprised that Iruka would say that to him.

"That's just being cowardly, thinking about that! Since when have you _ever_ quit on _anything_, Naruto?" he said with a bit of thunder in his voice.

"You can't just run away from your problems! You have to face this and overcome whatever it is that is causing you to be like this. You can runaway, but you can never escape from the problem _at all_! I'm shocked that you would even _consider_ running from this!" he told Naruto in his old scolding voice.

Naruto shook beneath Iruka's words, as if he were trembling under the weight of them. Iruka noticed Naruto's retreated and vulnerable expression and then reached out to him to show him no fear in facing a truth. He hugged his little brother closely and patted the top of his messy-haired head, noting the design Anko had cut up for Naruto all those months ago was still there, as strong as ever.

"I'm trying to help you, Naruto... If you want my advise, then here it is... If you want to free yourself from whatever painful turmoil you feel inside, then you have to let go whatever it is that your still holding onto, that is making you feel and act this way... No one else can make this decision for you... It's all up to you now..."

Naruto buried his face into Iruka's strong arms, and said after a few quieted down minutes, "I think... I get what your telling me, aniki..."

He pulled away slowly from Iruka's warmth, and they both went back to their ramen, wishing to avoid their awkward conversation and enjoy a few blissful ramen and broth slurping breaks of silence. After their shared meal, Naruto got up from his stool and hugged Iruka goodbye. Iruka was assigned a B-Rank mission for tomorrow, and Naruto wouldn't see him for a few days or even weeks.

Iruka rubbed Naruto's mop affectionately again and said, "Be sure you see me before I head out tomorrow. Okay buddy?"

He nudged Naruto's chin, making him break a tiny smile, "Okay, Iruka-aniki..."

Naruto walked out and away of Ichiraku's with his hands in his pockets and his hoodie up and over his face, and Iruka sighed.

He turned his stool toward the counter lazily and called to Teuchi, "One apple-sake for me, Teuchi. I'm gonna need it."

"Make that two, please." Kakashi revealed himself, pulling back the restaurant's curtain and sitting down next to the chunin.

Iruka looked a pretty unsettled and a little insulted that Kakashi would barge in on his drink time, even though it was a public restaurant and Kakashi was openly welcome by the Ichiraku's.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Iruka asked irritably.

Kakashi wavered his hand in a 'chill out' sort of gesture, and said coolly, "Relax, Relax. I just came in for a drink."

Iruka looked at him with irritated eyes, "So you chose Ichiraku Ramen over any numerous ordinary bars in town?"

Kakashi gave Iruka one of his eye-smiles and answered innocently, "I have a very peculiar taste."

Iruka scoffed and looked toward the kitchen where Teuchi was beginning to pull out his private store of fruit flavored alcohols. And then said as Teuchi started to pour his portion, "Rah-Rah. Teuchi, I'll just sip and go tonight, okay?"

Kakashi suddenly turned serious, and beckoned to Iruka, not wishing him to leave, "Alright, look. I need to talk to you. Will you please listen to me?"

Iruka growled at Kakashi, at remembering how much of a royal prick he had been to him ever since the beginning of the Chunin Exams, "Last time I did that for you, you put me out in front of an entire mob of our fellow peers. F**k you."

Kakashi lowered his gaze and said remorsefully, "Okay... you're right. I was a dick to you back then, and I am sorry... I'm trying to reach out to Naruto. But I keep failing... I need your help..."

Iruka looked a little curious but still remained planted to his chair and asked with the similar pitch of irritance, "What do you want?"

"You seem to know his best interests at heart... So I came to you for guidance..." he informed as if he were admitting to him.

Iruka said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Then _you_ should be talking to Naruto. Instead of going to someone else for things you _should_ know about by now."

"Will you _please_ help me?" he beckoned.

Iruka paused for a few moments, just when Teuchi filled his container of sake and poured his first sip of the strong flavored liquid.

He took a sip of the apple tasting sake, and said sarcastically, "He's _your_ student now, you said it yourself before. Shouldn't you know _everything _about him by now? I mean you _are_ his sensei."

Kakashi hung his head slightly, satisfied that he got Iruka to stay, "You _know_ I'm not acquainted with _every_ detail, Iruka."

"... You were at the meeting of the century and during the evaluation exams, you heard and seen everything you need to know about him." said Iruka

Kakashi said back calmly, "That's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is... What is wrong with him, now...? Why is he so different than before? What led him to become so... so-"

"Devoid of life?" Iruka asked,

"Exactly!" Kakashi paused for a few seconds, "What happened to him?"

Iruka hesitated, not sure if he should even divulge anything to his senpai. But then the thought came to him; that if he helped Kakashi, then maybe it would help Naruto in turn.

"How do I start this out...? Have you ever had a secret, that you couldn't tell anyone out of fear?" he asked Kakashi.

The jounin said nothing.

"... Naruto has had to hide his true self underneath an idiot joker's mask for seven years. He never opened up to anyone about this truth for years, afraid to death of the possible ramifications of that secret getting out... Can you even _imagine_ what it must have been like for his worst fear imaginable to come true before his eyes, and be put out in front of the whole village like he was on display...?" Iruka inquired.

Kakashi felt a slight and very cold drop in his stomach, from just thinking about being in Naruto's shoes.

"The entire village now knows almost everything about him... These months were too much for him to handle, having so much shit happen to him all at once... He's become so overwhelmed, and bottled up all this unnecessary stress under his new mask of indifference and contempt. I can feel he's pretty close to just exploding under all this pressure and turning into something ugly, that I or anyone else can recognize anymore... He's facing all the stress a kid his age should not have to endure..." Iruka told the Copy-Nin calmly.

Kakashi then said, "... You should know that I was his age, I had learned from my own experiences, that you are to endure and accept the pain the world had to throw at you. I-"

Iruka slammed his fist to the counter, "I told you before; Naruto isn't like you!"

Kakashi paled slightly at seeing Iruka's brotherly rage come out again.

"You have _no idea _how _severe_ this all is to him!"

Kakashi tried putting up his hands in a gesture to cool off and calm down.

"Haven't you forgotten that this isn't about you, it's about him! And you wonder why he is so furious with you!"

Iruka soon subsided his aggression slightly and allowed Kakashi to speak again, "What I was just about to say, was that I have no idea what I should be doing to help him from my experience alone."

Iruka sweat-dropped embarrassingly, and adopted a more apologetic look, "Oh... Uh, sorry."

Kakashi nodded in understanding, "What I really want to know is what is it that I'm doing wrong with Naruto?" he asked, "How can I fix my relation with him? How do you always do it? It's like you're not even trying sometimes..."

Iruka paused again, "... You don't listen, Kakashi... That's what has been your problem this whole time..." Kakashi reasonably looked a little insulted, "You've once said that a ninja must look underneath what is underneath, but when it came to your own students, you didn't look past the surface that much..."

Kakashi question Iruka's reasoning, "Can you elaborate for me on that one, please?"

Iruka examined his sake cup playfully, and took a small swig of his apple-tasting beverage and began with, "Starting with Haruno and Uchiha: both kids, you must have thought you wouldn't have any difficulty. Seeing as they were both very semi-simple people to do a simple background check on to understand them..."

Iruka cleared his throat and went into lecture-mode: "Sasuke. He's a vengeful, unhappy, unlikable, egotistical, and power-hungry person through and through. Sakura. She's a psychotic Sasuke-fan-girl, with an intolerance for nice-guys, and an all-around book-intellect. Also through and through. But when you do a layout of Naruto, how do you describe him, Kakashi? Or rather, how did you used to describe him as?"

The older man hesitated and thought back to when Naruto acted more happy and lively before those disastrous Chunin Exams.

"When I saw Naruto... He was the unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja..."

Iruka looked at him with that matter-of-fact look to him again.

Kakashi looked at him differently and asked, "So there's more to him, than that?"

Iruka nodded, "Not very many differences, really..." He passed the bottle to Kakashi, and poured himself a sip with his own tiny cup of the sweet-tasting alcohol.

"He's not as knuckle-headed as he tricked us into believing he was... Deep down, he can be pretty insecure and fearful to a lot of things like any normal kid his age plus much more..."

After pulling off his mask to take a sip of sake in the span of a microsecond, Kakashi stared at Iruka, intently learning the inner workings of his Obito-like student.

"He managed to successfully hide these insecure feelings under his cocky attitude and fake smiles. He does this by a means of self-defense... When Naruto would be intimidated in a fight or overwhelmed by a tough a task, he would just smile and say no-problem... Have you ever realized how many times he must have felt so overpowered or intimidated by something so much more skilled, bigger, and greater than himself, with all of the _smiles_ he kept forcefully out...? Kakashi, have you ever even seen him _truly_ smile before...?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi stared at Iruka, still. And after some hesitation he answered, "No..."

Iruka looked across from him. He stared at the rising steam coming out of the many pots and pans in Teuchi's kitchen sadly, "Deep down, Naruto is a scared kid with a lot of sensitive feelings and emotional needs... Like back when his friend Hayate Gekko was murdered... I remember how absolutely miserable he was after he found him dead. The experience crushed his spirits for a while and a small hole is still there in his heart from it... Although he's told me that it's gotten a bit smaller with time..."

Kakashi sighed and hung his head into his open hands and moaned once he realized what a complete douchebag he was back when he denied Naruto's connection with Hayate. He also recognized that he had failed at yet another one of Minato-sensei's teachings of looking beneath the surface, and realizing just how much of a jerk he must have been to Naruto this whole time since after the Chunin Exams. He even punched himself in the head for telling Naruto to shut up so harshly back during the fight between Gaara and Sasuke when Naruto was trying to warn him about the threat of the Shukaku. He felt even worse when he failed to see that Naruto was both capable and responsible enough for handling the Rasengan, despite his young age and experience as a shinobi.

But something still puzzled Kakashi. Recovering from his self-loathing, he quickly asked Iruka, "How do you do this so easily?"

"Huh? Do what?" he questioned almost drunkenly after taking another swig.

"How do you relate to Naruto so easily? I mean, why is it so easy for you to talk to him and understand him like you do, Iruka?"

The brunette shinobi smiled, looking down at the counter and blushed due to the alcohol, "He's just like me... Almost..." he answered,

"... I remember... when I was a little kid, I'd always ask my parents if I could have a little brother. They'd laugh and say that it takes a lot of work, but I always wanted to be the responsible one. To have an important responsibility and have fun at the same time, and take care of someone. Someone who would look up to me with love and respect... But then, my parents died, and I lost hope in ever having a little brother... But when Naruto came into the picture... Being there for him, pointing him in the right direction... In no time at all, I was hooked to him... We had the same sense of humor, same likes and dislikes, we had... _so much_ in common. Even our pranking careers were identical...!"

Iruka chuckled at the end of his tender-emotional speech.

Kakashi looked at him with a little warm admiration and subtle hint of respect, "...You really care for him, don't you?"

Iruka's face turned a little sad, "... I've had a lot of students in my years as an Academy sensei. And to be honest, it's a pretty sad job... Because if you get attached to any student, what are the chances that any one of them will give a damn to say hello to you after they graduate? Would they keep in touch with you, or even so much as remember you?"

Kakashi looked a little sad now, listening to him.

But then Iruka smiled again, "Naruto-chan would be the only exception to that tragic truth... He still held strong to me, even _after_ I graduated him. He came to me whenever he was lonely, upset, or if he just wanted to spend time with me... And I gotta say... Everytime he would spend his time with me, I felt that I got my wish from my parents after all. I've come to care for Naruto far more than I have for anyone else in such a long time. Hell, I-I love the kid. I love him like the baby brother I always wanted... I even tried to adopt him once... But stupid council wouldn't let me..."

Iruka smiled with a few tears beginning to prick at his eyes. Some of them having been brought on by all the alcohol he drank.

Kakashi looked a little happy for him, but then his expression turned a little bit more serious, "But you couldn't be there for him all the time. Or while he was growing up before the Academy, huh?"

Iruka turned more earnest and said slowly and calmly, "I try not to think about it... I was always more focused on sharpening Naruto wit and increasing his academic knowledge. When I should've been more focused on the fact that he needed emotional help, _not_ so much educational... He was so similar to how I would fake myself in school and act like a moron, and I didn't recognize the similarities' between us sooner... Even _if_ he did have Harry Potter was telling him to do half of the idiotic stuff he did... The point is, that I could have been there for him more... And I _failed_ him as a sensei, when I should have succeeded so effing easily..."

Kakashi looked at Iruka, a little fortunate that they both had a little something in common, when it came to educating Naruto.

"At least I'm there for him now, instead of never there at all... I found it a little strange as to why he never disdained me or anything... He never did..." Iruka mused out loud.

"He forgave you for your mistakes, then?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka side-glanced away, "I think so. He can forgive someone, if they didn't know what they did before was wrong to begin with and admit to their faults willingly."

Kakashi seemed a little bit agitated now, "He can forgive you just like that, and yet he won't forgive _me_."

Iruka looked towards the kitchens again, "That's because you've done more damage to him. Or at least you caused him to be the way he is now. You were the cause of it."

Kakashi looked more agitated now. And he said, "How is what I did any worse than you fail to do for him?"

Iruka snapped his head towards Kakashi, and gave him a look that asked, WTF?

"You idiot. I had a lot of responsibilities as an Academy sensei. I had to look over _twenty_ students at once, _you_ have to watch over _three_!" he reasoned angrily, "I didn't _know_ Naruto was that lonely at all because I was so busy. You _intentionally_ ignored him, so you could train Sasuke (asshole-face) Uchiha instead! So in case it hasn't gotten through that insensitive-brain of yours, that hurt Naruto worse than a knife to the _heart_!" he ended wrathfully.

Kakashi tried to explain his reasoning, "But I-"

"-Before you go ahead and defend yourself, let us make a list of the things you've done, shall we?" Iruka interrupted, and he counted a new finger with everything he pointed out, "First, you ignored him repeatedly, and didn't bother getting to actually know him past his theatrics and fake smiles. Next, you entered him and the rest of your squad into an exam that risked both their stable states of mind and their life's as well. Then, you f**king _abandoned_ Naruto and ran off to train Sasuke outside of the village. You taught an unstable nut-job an extremely dangerous jutsu, causing the already contemptuous and heartbroken Naruto to feel jealousy and envy towards his teammate Uchiha... And the real kicker, is that led to a domino effect that almost led to his death, and then later; his exposure to the entire village as a wizard... The only good thing you've done for him since then, was have him avoid the villagers during your f**king missions... Now, did I do anything that bad, compared to you?"

Kakashi was speechless again. He had absolutely nothing to say in his defense and no excuse for what he did when he thought about it enough.

"And now Naruto's life has been turned to shit because of you and Sasuke... Although _admittedly_ it was Sasuke that sold him out like a weasel and ruined his life..."

'_He's right... I think... Now, I get it...'_ Kakashi thought in realization. Suddenly, Naruto's behavior towards him and Sakura became abundantly clear.

"I understand, now..." Kakashi sighed sadly, "I realize now, that I screwed up, bad. worse than what I thought before... I failed them all... And to think, I felt confidant what Jiraiya advised me to do was the right decision to make, forgetting how harsh it seemed at the time. If I knew what would happen out of it... I never would have..."

Iruka looked a little confused by what Kakashi said. Then again, it might have been the booze he was drinking for the past half-hour.

"What are you talking about, Kakashi?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment and asked, "I take it that by now, you and many others have been informed of the existence of the Akatsuki, right?"

"Yeah." Iruka nodded.

Kakashi went on to explain, "Itachi Uchiha is one of Akatsuki's most valuable members, and because his primary target is Naruto, Jiraiya thought it best to drive Sasuke's ambition to kill Itachi in a more positive light. Instead of vengeance, he would eliminate his brother in order to defend his 'friend'... So Jiraiya insisted onto me, before the Chunin Exams even started, that he would takeover Naruto's training from me temporarily in order to prepare him to fight the Akatsuki. Jiraiya also told me to focus on Sasuke's training primarily and persuade him to re-aim the purpose of his goal to kill his older brother... Although, Jiraiya _insisted_ that I leave Naruto behind without a trace, that way he would be more willing to go to him for training instead and gravitate towards him easier..."

Iruka stared at Kakashi, slack-jawed, "... That's a really _stupid_ idea. You _are_ aware of that, right?"

Kakashi hung his head in shame at his stupidity, "I know that _now_."

"Clearly, Jiraiya-sama never took sociology when he was younger, huh?" Iruka looked humorously smart when saying that.

Kakashi still looked depressed, "Now I'm facing the repercussions of my stupid ignorance, huh?" Kakashi sighed and then asked desperately, "What do I do, now? How can I possible fix this with Naruto, Iruka...?"

Iruka looked at Kakashi reaching out to him for help and just satred at him to decide either or not if he should help this guy. But at seeing the hopeless and desperate look in his silvery-grey eye, Iruka gave in and let go of his past resentment of Kakashi to help him shifted in his seat, feeling his butt falling asleep and sat up straighter before snapping back into focus.

Iruka asked, "Do you really want my advise?"

Kakashi nodded slowly.

Iruka breathed, "You have to talk to him, Kakashi. Don't just squeeze in an empty kind word to him during or after a mission. Or try to make a simple conversation that will go nowhere like some slippery suck-up. He won't ever go for that. It shows weakness... You have to seek him out wherever and whenever you can, and have him talk to you... Let him know how sorry you truly are, open up to him, and give him a hug if you must...! If you want to get back whatever you lost from Naruto, you must be willing to do _anything_ to get back into his heart, now that you know most of the background and understand him better... If you don't do this soon, you might lose him forever, Kakashi..."

The jounin looked at Iruka and asked, "Is that all it will really take?"

"In your case, Kakashi; all of that alone might not be close to enough..." he answered with sympathy.

Kakashi sighed mentally, hanging his head once more, '_Fantastic..._'

Iruka got up from his warm seat and yawned while he stretched his stiff muscles from sitting for so long and lecturing, "I'd hate to leave you here, Kakashi. But I have a mission in the morning and I need to sleep. Besides, if I stay here any longer, I'll probably end up having a hangover in the morning." Iruka laughed paying his ryo for the ramen and sake.

Kakashi watched as Iruka began to leave, but stopped as he held up the curtain to leave, "Maybe my absence from town tomorrow will provide you ample time with Naruto... He'll be pretty much alone without me here, so he might actually be more willing to fall into _your_ arms without much of a choice at hand... Just remember what I told you, Kakashi..."

And with that Iruka walked away from Kakashi with a slight trip in his step and disappeared into the streets of the city and into village background.

* * *

To Be Continued

Next time: Reconciliation

* * *

**That was pretty good, I think. I hope you guys found this entertaining; an irritable and emo Naruto. **

**One thing I would like to point out, which I know some of you might have had a problem with: Naruto having an iPod. **

**I know that they live in a ninja society, but wouldn't you think, since they have movie theaters, refrigerators, and color cameras. Wouldn't you think that Konoha would have access to various recreational technologies? I sure do think so. So I thought, what the hell, and threw it in there. **

* * *

**The song he was listening to was Let Go by Frou Frou**

**Aika-Aimi means "love song, love beauty"**

**Harumi means "spring beauty"  
**

* * *

**I also have a rant here: Kakashi bashing. This is one thing I have come to really hate recently. There have been. . . Some horrible Kakashi bashes in fan fiction out there, that depict Kakashi as some self-ambitious, hate-mongering, asshole. This, I suppose, was brought on by fans everywhere, when Kakashi totally blew Naruto off with the training for the Chunin Exam Finals and gave him an incompetent and hateful teacher (Ebisu) and then Jiraiya. And the fact that Kakashi both taught Sasuke the Chidori and appeared to be playing favorites with the bastard afterwards. Since then, fans, including myself, have been angry at Kakashi for this. **

**What many of us fail to realize is that Kakashi WASN'T playing favorites at all. If you guys watch Episode 82 of the Part 1 anime, Kakashi has a flashback after he loses to Itachi. It shows him and Jiraiya talking before the Chunin Exams even started, he tells Kakashi that HE would take Naruto from him to train, and that he(Kakashi) would have to focus on Sasuke, in order to prepare them both for the threat of the Akatsuki that was approaching. Not to mention that Kakashi looked pretty sad, leaving Naruto behind like he did. He looked and sounded pretty regretful of it. So there you have it: There was no favoritism being played at all. Granted that Kakashi could've been more sensitive and should have TALKED to his team about it, in order to prevent their inevitable collapse. And that is his only true character fault.**

**My bash is actually founded, unlike a majority of bashes out there.**

* * *

**Anyway:**

**Here is a deleted scene I wanted to put in, and a tiny Omake I felt like writing. I just did these for fun. The first one is meant to be taken more seriously, while the short Omake was my attempt at writing something a little humorous I wrote with my friend Tom. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a place where they both would fit in, or it would just filibuster the chapter, so that's why they were deleted**

**Here you go:**

* * *

Kakashi sat down on his stool at Ichiraku Ramen for a few more minutes before getting up to walk around town for a bit. Kakashi walked through town for awhile, debating on what way he would try to confront Naruto,

'_Perhaps tomorrow would be a good time... Iruka's right, without him around, Naruto won't have much of a choice in who to confide in... I should let him know the truth, even if he'll hate me for it... EH?'_

Kakashi stopped walking at once, Naruto was just down the street right now. He hadn't noticed Kakashi for he looked too preoccupied trying to avoid being seen by the many crowding villagers, thankfully, they hadn't noticed him without his familiar orange outfit and with a hood hanging over his head. Naruto turned around and he entered straight into a peculiar store.

_Hiroki's Music Emporium_.

Kakashi was little bemused at this, _'Why would Naruto go into a music store?'_

Curiosity getting the best of him, Kakashi disguised himself as an unrecognizable teenager and walked in as well in order to observe his student better.

Naruto walked up to the front counter of the large instrumental emporium, where the owner greeted Naruto in an enthusiastic greeting, "Hello there, Uzumaki-san! Thinking about actually buying something this time?"

"Don't you worry, Hiroki-san. The first thing I plan to get is that electronic piano. Once I have enough money to pay for it, that is." Naruto said with a slight smile,

"Aw hell, you can still play a few of these instruments if ya want. I love it when you play, kid!" the man named Hiroki complimented.

Kakashi quickly assumed that this man was well acquainted with his student. He held no hostility towards him at all, and what confused Kakashi was his compliment on Naruto plays instruments.

'_Since when has Naruto ever been into music at all?'_ thought the Copy-Ninja.

He hid himself behind a long and tall shelve of CD's and peeked through to observe Naruto without being detected.

Naruto walked over to a center display of a massive and playable-demo electronic piano. Naruto sat down in the pianist's seat and turned on the device. It lit up with various colored lights and gears Kakashi couldn't understand from the distance he was at. Naruto seemed to know what he was doing, pushing many different buttons and switches on the piano's base.

Once finished, Naruto pressed a few keys to test the sound, which sounded like a truly authentic grand piano. Naruto didn't have any sheet music with him, which put the question as to what he would play. _Mary Had A Little Lamb?_

Naruto then started a few short paced breaths and relax his hands on the keyboard and sat up straight.

And he played a very soothing melody. Kakashi stared, absolutely mesmerized at the song Naruto was playing. It started out quite slow at first, and then the melody quickened progressively, the pitch and tone changing so very often but flowed very well.

Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing and watching. He had no idea that Naruto was so talented with something so complex to him. Kakashi used to play the flute once, but he quit after the first six weeks of lessons, finding playing an instrument to be pointless. He was nothing compared to how well Naruto played this grand instrument.

Naruto played a few high notes and then settled down with lower pitches and slowed down the song in all. Soon, he started the song again, very similar to how it began. As he was playing, he smiled. Kakashi saw him actually smile while he played. He never smiled while he was on mission these days. Playing the piano must bring him some kind of a bliss to all the stress he's been enduring.

Kakashi found the music so soothing, he relaxed and foolishly leaned against a stack of old CD's, knocking them to the ground with a very loud clatter. This alerted both Naruto and the clergyman, and stopped the beautiful music. Kakashi, frightened that Naruto could find out he was watching him, he fled the music store as fast as he could. Sad that he wouldn't get to hear the end of that beautiful melody.

If Kakashi were to manage to fix his problem with Naruto, then maybe he could ask to hear the end of the song.

* * *

**Now here is the Omake my friend Azeroth44 wrote while we were sugar-high. **

Kakashi entered the Jounin's lounge completely depressed that he failed to bond with Naruto yet again. He walked over to the fellow jounin, including Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy.

**Kakashi**: How the hell am I going to resolve this? I didn't think Naruto would hate me this much….

Kakashi slumps into a chair, completely depressed.

**Asuma**: Well what the hell did you think it was going to be like to win him back?

Kakashi tilted his head slightly to the left and looked up. A thought cloud appeared above Kakashi's head; and a chibi of himself walked up to a chibi Emo Naruto.

"Hiya, Naruto!" shouted the chibi Kakashi.

"Hello, sensei." replied the chibi Emo Naruto.

"Let's go train together!" Chibi Kakashi exclaimed, magically turning chibi Naruto back to a normal chibi Naruto.

"Oh, Frabjous Day!" Chibi Naruto cheered, throwing himself into Kakashi's arms,

"Callooh! Callay!" Kakashi cheered.

Both chibi Naruto and chibi Kakashi then merrily skipped away, chortling in their joy.

"Look out! An army of Giant Robot Ninja Pirate Bears! Save me, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried

**Giant Robot Ninja Pirate Bears**: RAWR!

Kakashi roared bravely, "_I_ will protect you, Naruto! EXCELSIOR!"

Kakashi launched himself at the giant army and kicked all of their robot asses! He punched every pirate bear and ninja bear impressively, while he sung with harmony, "Everybody was kung-fu fighting!"

While Naruto gazed in awe and wonder at his amazing and super cool sensei!

Suddenly Kakashi flashed back to tragic reality when Asuma snapped his fingers in front of his face, to wake him up.

**Kakashi**: Life would be so much simpler.

* * *

**Lol! I don't really know what me and Azeroth44 were thinking when we wrote that! Lol!**

* * *

**Read and review, please! Keep it nice! Thank you!**


	8. Reconciliation

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Thoughts

'_**Blah' **_: Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Hey, everyone! We're back! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!  
**

**(Now I shall impersonate that voice from ABC Family) And now, an exclusive, new chapter of Naruto Uzumaki and the Dark Path of Shinobi! **

**Azeroth44: STOP IMPERSONATING COOLER VOICE'S! (Punch) **

**Kvsyaoran: OW! Okay then, on with the show. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to beat the hell out of my friend here. Enjoy! Get over here, Azeroth44!**

**(The sounds of multiple screams and punches are heard while Naruto watches, eating popcorn.)**

**Naruto: I got twenty bucks on Kvsyaoran! **

**Harry: (Comes in and sits down, eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans) I call the same amount, but on Azeroth44!  
**

* * *

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

Chapter 8: Reconciliation

* * *

{{_Victoria by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Naruto was sitting down upon the same exact chair in the Council Court Chamber he had sat in before his life was thrown completely out of balance . There sat the condescending and curious faces of the people that stood up high above him. The old and evil face of Danzo, paralyzing him to his seat by just starring at him with his lone eye. Danzo's eye had opened and then turned as red as Sharingan. Naruto became frozen to the point where he could no longer move his own eyes. He couldn't move until he felt a harsh and familiar, cold-skinned hand grasp his shoulder. Naruto expected to see a normal-looking Sasuke Uchiha sitting down in his own chair and laughing evilly as he did back in the Council Court Chamber. But when Sasuke forcibly turned Naruto to face him, he was met with a terrifying sight. Sasuke had somehow merged the frightening characteristics of both his demonic curse mark form and his normal form, and created a fusion combination of both faces to create a new, vampiric appearance.

Naruto gaped and blanched at Sasuke's appearance and fell down to the hardwood floor and sprawled away from an advancing Sasuke until he hit his head against the from of the giant desk where Danzo was sitting. He remained still while Sasuke slowly got up from his seat and Naruto took in the appearance of his clothing. He wore an elegant and sleek black-colored Uchiha nobleman outfit, similar to what the old Uchiha heads used to wear. Given his clothes and hideous appearance, Sasuke had turned into a monster fit into a dangerous, cold, and pale humanoid form.

Blood began to drip down from Sasuke's lips as he opened his mouth and appeared right in front of Naruto in the flash of a second and with the sound of a sharp whistle. Naruto then felt the cold, steel blade of a kunai press against the nape of his neck and then it quickly cut the nape and blood began to seep out in a warm stream. Naruto looked up to see that Danzo was the one who had cut him and the teen quickly grasped at his opened nape and pressed down against it with all his might. The ugly old man had not cut the jugular but still he cut in deep enough to cause enough damage to get Sasuke excited. Naruto felt his hand become grasped by Sasuke's cold and clawed hand and he fiercely removed Naruto's hand from his now healed-up neck.

Sasuke's face had now fully turned into his level-two form, his skin now grey, his hair now long, grey, and wild. Fangs protruding and fingernails turned into claws made of glass. Sasuke grasped Naruto's paling neck and dug his nails deep. In response to this, Naruto protested and kicked Sasuke in the gonads. The demon yelped in pain before Naruto reached out to scratch his face and punched every layer of demon skin on Sasuke's face so as to reach his real flesh and attack Sasuke until there was nothing left of his former friend. As Sasuke dug his fingers in deeper into Naruto's neck, the blonde yelled at the top of his lungs and kicked him square in the chest, throwing him all the way to the center of the chamber. Naruto whipped out his wand and created magical restraints that prevented Sasuke from getting back up. There Naruto forced his face still and then started punching every single perfect detail of Sasuke's pretentious face.

"TAKE THIS, YOU TWO-FACED BASTARD!"

Sasuke began to yell and scream in pain as his face quickly reverted back into it's normal form. Once his face was restored, it was instantly robbed of it's beauty and paleness and turned into a disfigured mass of blood and bruised tissue. All the while, Naruto yelled and roared in fury as his fists dug themselves deep into Sasuke's face. Again and again Naruto punched at every part of Sasuke until he awoke himself after he accidentally punched the base of his bed in a recoil.

Naruto yelped in pain and started caressing his newly bruised hand. He tend to it carefully and watched as the bruise upon his knuckles began to dissolve and turn into newly created skin. Once the pain had passed, Naruto went back to sleep, still seeing the nighttime sky just outside his window slowly turn into a dark shade of grey.

* * *

The early morning on this particular day started out a light drizzly. The skies were an even darker shade of grey clouds than the day before. The chances of there being a rain or thunder storm today were very likely. Naruto slept as much as he could for the remainder of the night; before he had gone home to his flat, he had played at his favorite music emporium downtown. Hiroki's Music Emporium was one of the few places Naruto would go to whenever he needed to calm his nerves and find some serenity. Whenever he walked in and played the piano, he felt totally at peace. The soothing melodies he created helped him to relax and ready himself for sleep, like a self-conducted lullaby. No one else knew about Naruto's musical talents at all. Except for Iruka, Anko, Harry, the Ichiraku's, the two Sannin, Shizune, and the late Hayate Gekko.

It would be one secret he would keep to himself, until he _wanted_ other people to know about it.

Naruto slept last night without a single pleasant dream coming to mind, unless you would count the sequences of him beating the ever-loving crap out of Sasuke Uchiha. At least it was better than having to wake up screaming in the middle of the night from nightmares of being tied burned to a post and executed publicly. He got up very early that morning, dressed up in his new casual clothes, and Disapparated from his apartment, only to reappear down to the street of Iruka's residence. He wanted to get there early, so he could walk with him to the gates where he would be meeting the teammates Sarutobi had given him.

Just when Naruto was about to knock on his door, Iruka had just opened it. He was geared up and ready to fulfill his mission, he was also wearing a protective a shinobi-style traveling cloak. Probably because of the weather.

Iruka looked happy to see his baby brother come to see him off, and ruffled his hair playfully and said, "Mornin', buddy!"

Naruto laughed a little bit when he buried his face into Iruka's lower chest. Once they separated, Naruto walked close by Iruka once they made their way down the street, helping him with anything he could carry before Iruka would seal it away in a storage scroll. The two brotherly companions walked together side by side, not saying that much to each other and instead simply enjoying one another's company

* * *

{{_Break Up by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Naruto and Iruka stopped before the gates, where Iruka's hand-picked teammates were already waiting for him. Iruka kneeled down to Naruto's level and gave him a big hug. Naruto tried taking in as much as he could out of this encounter, afraid that he wouldn't get enough time to hold him off until Iruka would return.

Naruto felt pretty scared by now. Iruka was the person Naruto would go to frequently for help this past month. Without Iruka around, he would have no one else to go to when something was bothering him. It was childish, yes. Like a child crying over their mother for leaving to go to work or something. Only, Naruto didn't whine or cry, knowing Iruka felt the same way as he did, to a degree at least.

The rain began to pour down heavier, causing Naruto to shiver in the cold.

Iruka whispered to him, "Don't be scared, Naruto. Okay...? I'll be back soon. I promise I'll come back in one piece... I just need you to be strong for me here, okay...?"

Naruto nodded reluctantly, but agreed nonetheless.

"Iruka! Mission! We gotta go!" called Genma from the gate.

Iruka irritably yelled back, "I'M COMING! Jeez!"

Iruka smiled back at Naruto and embraced him once more, and pecked the top of his blonde head.

"I-I'll try my best, Iruka-aniki..." he tried to smile back.

Iruka stood up and packed away his scrolls, turning to his teammates. Reluctant to leave Naruto behind in the village, he wondered if this was what Kakashi mildly felt when he left Naruto behind all those months ago. Tossing the thought aside, he vanished with his team to fulfill their mission.

The rain now poured down so hard and fast that Naruto couldn't even see Iruka run off in the distance. He vanished into the wall of water, as apposed to seeing him until he was too far to be seen, what with his bad vision and the weather in the way. Naruto stayed behind where he stood, tears rolling down his face in the rain, as he touched the spot on his head where Iruka pecked him.

Things would only be worse without Iruka here to cheer him up.

* * *

{{_Memories of Edward by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Naruto walked around the village, while it was still a little bit empty. The rain continued to pour down on him mercilessly, but he didn't care if he got wet, right now. He didn't have his iPod with him and he had dried clothes waiting for him at home just in case. He had his frog wallet with him, though, he thought it best to buy a few things. Like an umbrella, another travel cloak maybe (seeing as the last one he last purchased has a powerful Disillusionment Charm placed on it), or something to eat this morning instead of old and dried-out bread.

He first decided to walk off the fact that Iruka was gone. He walked through the park for a bit, where the trees were so thick, they provided him with some relief from the downpour. He sat down on a bench that was still dry and rested his head into his hands, trying to relax. He let out a stressful sob while he buried his face from the rest of the world and the constant downpour. But while he protected his face from the fresh air, raindrops continuously seeped in between his fingers and kept wetting up his nearly whisker mark-less face.

'_Harry...'_ he thought with a failing voice.

Harry asked, '_**Naruto...?'**_

The boy asked him in a voice of desperation, '_Why is this so hard...? Why can't I control how I feel anymore...?'_

Harry focused his magical powers to make it feel as if he were hugging Naruto in the real world. To him, it felt as if Harry were sitting right down beside him relieving him of his inner turmoil for just a few blissful moments.

The problem with Naruto was that Harry's comfort wasn't always enough for him. He needed _real_ people to confide in the _real_ world. To Naruto, Harry could never truly be substantial to him. He helped with him emotionally at times, but it wasn't always enough. He needed someone who wasn't in his head to reach out to him. And that's what was so difficult for him, he hardly ever saw the other genin, and now Iruka was gone for the time being. Jiraiya was now being called on missions by Sarutobi, and Tsunade and Shizune were too busy saving lives at the hospital to be there for their favorite blonde. Sakura was non-supportive and cruel to him, while Kakashi was none the wiser.

To him, he was completely and utterly alone again.

* * *

Naruto returned home to get a shower and change his clothes. Thankfully, he bought a small umbrella on his way back to keep a little more dry. So that way, he would not develop pneumonia or anything, for even a Jinchuuriki can catch illnesses like any ordinary mortal. Naruto quickly showered and redressed into dryer clothes and found his protective traveling cloak to wear for today. He left his iPod behind and pocketed his wand before heading out without breakfast. He would have to restock on food and soap tomorrow or later tonight, depending on the number of onlookers there would be at the market.

He exited his apartment and locked his door with a tap of his wand. But before he could leave his hallway, Naruto was confronted by three older teenage males. He knew these three people, these were the guys that have picked on Naruto for years. Ever since he was about four, these guys would trip him, push him around, and beat the ever-loving crap out of him on several notable occasions for the past nine years. The last time they ever tried to harm or bother the young wizard was when they tried to kill him with a homemade garbage wrecking ball downtown during the Chunin Exams last year.

The leader of the pack walked up and stood in front of Naruto with a crowbar in his hands and an evil smile on his greasy, pimple-covered face.

"Hey, freak! What's up?" asked the leader casually.

Naruto had taken enough crap from these guys to last a lifetime. Now it was time for payback. Naruto reached into his jacket and grasped hold of his wand and whipped it out in a threatening matter.

"Screw off, now! Or you'll regret it!" Naruto yelled at them, holding his wand at the ready.

The leader of the gang slicked back his black and greasy hair, splattering some disgusting oil out of the wooden floor and cracked the knuckles of his left hand.

He announced, "Come on guys, lets make quick fun of this. LET'S ROCK AND RO-!"

* * *

Approximately thirty seconds later, Naruto emerged from his apartment building looking very happy, satisfied, and completely unscratched. Before he pulled the large hood of his cloak over his head, he wiped a large smear of blood from his cheek and cleaned his face over with some falling rain before he pocketed his wand again and departed to his team's mission for the day.

* * *

Naruto's temporary happiness was cut short as he approached his team's usual meeting place. This time, he decided to arrive on time, which would mean that Sakura would be appearing momentarily. When Naruto gt there, he frowned once he realized that she was already there, waiting for him and Kakashi to arrive. Sakura turned to his direction and scowled at him before smirking and getting ready to torment or insult her teammate before Kakashi showed up.

"Well, look who it is! The village pariah...!" she called, "Still being your same freakish self, huh?"

Naruto glanced to his side underneath his hood and glared at Sakura with a hidden scowl. To she wore a rain cloak similar to his own, only it was colored bubblegum-pink and had a bright-red stripe design bordering the cape's edge.

"G'morning, Pinky. So you want an enemy to spot you easier today?" Naruto said quietly with his arms crossed beneath his cloak.

Sakura growled at him, irritated at being referred to as Pinky, "What did you say, _Uzumaki_?"

"You're a real idiot to be wearing a pink rain-cloak if you're going on a mission. Do you _want_ the enemy to kill you?" he dared to ask.

"Are you threatening me, _baka_?" Sakura rebuked.

Naruto answered, "No. _You're_ the baka, for wearing inappropriate clothing on a mission. Didn't you learn that in the Academy? The enemy will spot you easier with bright colors." Naruto retorted reasonably.

Sakura looked exasperatingly insulted, but then laughed, "What? You honestly think those filthy Suna shinobi out there are going to-"

"-Sunagakure is on _our_ side, dipshit. Before you open your mouth and start blabbering like an old cat woman, get your facts straight. You insufferable know-it-all." Naruto interrupted smartly,

Harry laughed, '_**Hahahaha! Nice one, Naruto!** **Right out of Snape's old book!**_'

Upon hearing his brother's voice laughing in his ears, Naruto smiled for one of the first times in so many months. For ever since that time of evaluation and testing went on, Naruto found it harder and harder to smile genuinely again. Sakura would've gone on to start another one of her infamous and inflammatory rants of hatred and harsh criticism, but then Kakashi arrived, surprisingly on-time. He had jumped from one of the buildings out in the distance all the way to the tip-top of the same red bridge arch he jumped on top of every day they left for a mission for the past year, ever since Team 7 had been first formed. He hunched on top of the middle of the arch and lazily waved to his two remaining students.

"Well, isn't it rainy today!" Kakashi called down to his students, wearing his own hooded raincoat, only it was forest-green in color and hid him away very well should the opportunity to hide come.

Naruto's previous victory smile vanished beneath an unfriendly frown, for he was finally winning a fight against Sakura, until Kakashi interrupted his moment so inconveniently. Naruto took a mental note to get used to these kind of

"WHAT THE HELL? Kakashi-sensei is on time for once! What's the occasion?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised.

Kakashi leapt down from the top of the tall archway and landed in front of his students gracefully, "Hmmm? I guess I just felt like showing up on time today."

"Well, that's a first." Naruto grumbled to himself quietly.

Kakashi heard the harshness in Naruto's tone when he said that but gave his eye-smile anyway, "I have good news, today..."

Naruto thought, '_Let me guess, one-night stand? Wouldn't be surprised if he got syphilis or something...'_

'_**Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki! You watch your mouth.'**_ Harry scolded Naruto.

"The doppler-radar today promised cleared skies by this afternoon. Which means we won't have to wear _these_ all day," he pointed at his own weather cloak, "_And_ we're guaranteed a perfect night sky on the night of the full moon, which is tonight. Isn't that a perfect way to start off the summer?" Kakashi smiled encouragingly.

Naruto spoke no opinion, while Sakura sighed whimsically, "I bet Sasuke-kun and I would have sat beneath the full-moon's light if he were here with us..."

Naruto rolled his eyes while she went on to her fantasy world, "It would be the most _romantic_ thing imaginable... Kissing beneath the star light and sipping imitation wine out from champagne glasses..." she sighed again, earning rolled eyes from Kakashi and Naruto shooting himself in the head with an imaginary pistol as if he were Kim Pine.

"Romantic, Sakura? Are you kidding me?" Naruto patronized unexpectedly, "Sasuke has absolutely no idea of romance. Given the fact that he knocked you out you, when he left. He's just some chauvinist pig , who fell in love with his cousin."

Sakura looked contorted with rage, "_He was not some chauvinist pig!_" she shrieked, causing Kakashi to stick his fingers in his ears to soften the noise.

Naruto said smartly in a matter-of-fact tone, "But, I bet he was in love with his cousin."

"Back to reality, Sakura." Kakashi called for her attention, "Today's mission is another D-Rank mission. We will be walking a local dog breeders hounds and prized bull dogs. And we are _expected_ to walk them to near-exhaustion and then wash them clean and properly according to his exact instructions, since they're bound to get wet from walking them in the rain."

Sakura rudely interrupted, "I'm not washing some pack filthy _mutts_! Why can't their owner take care of them himself?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura and said flatly, "The poor man broke both his legs."

"Oh... Alright." Sakura surrendered.

Kakashi beckoned, "Anyway, we should be going. Let's go then."

Kakashi led the parade, while Sakura followed with her head hung at thinking of cleaning up after dogs while her male counterpart sighed heavily and followed in tow. Both he and Harry dreading the possibility of hearing Sakura's high-pitched, ear-splitting, blood-chortling screams.

* * *

Team 7's mission went pretty well, that rainy day. Kakashi was already extremely good with dogs, so walking them on a leash was only so easy for him. It was so easy, in fact, that it was boring for him. He would have thought it best if the dogs he handled didn't have a leash and followed him. But their client was very precise and demanded the leashes to be worn by his dogs at all times.

Naruto did pretty well with the dogs that he walked that day. Unlike the last time they took care of dogs for mission. None of the larger dogs overpowered Naruto in strength or dragged him to a place he didn't wanted to go. They listened to Naruto obediently enough to have a pleasing walk. The last time he had to do this on a mission, it took him more than half of the entire duration of the mission to finally grasp a firm hold over his dog.

The same could not be said about Sakura. She had chosen to walk and clean after the smaller hounds, thinking they would be easier to handle. But they dragged her off the beaten track more than a few times, and they went to do their business more than any of the other dogs combined.

What was worse, was that Sakura had to stop to pick up after them so many times, she ran out of doggie bags and had to resort to using her own weapons pouch. Much to her disdainful disgust for dog-mess. She had squealed and shrieked loudly in disgust almost the entire three-bloody-hour-long walk.

While Naruto and Kakashi were walking at a steady pace up ahead, Kakashi tried planning on how he would confront Naruto and end this pointless conflict between them. He remembered Iruka's words from the previous night, so he had to be careful not to butter Naruto up with random compliments or empty conversations that wouldn't go anywhere. He had to end this feud, and he had to plan it carefully.

* * *

Soon, Team 7 finished their walk, after taking an extra hour waiting for Sakura to catch up with them continuously. They soon got to work with cleaning and washing the dogs according to their clients expectations.

Kakashi did the best work, cleaning each dog he walked, thoroughly and playfully. Naruto was only just behind him, having no problem washing the dogs himself, for they didn't struggle or hassle with Naruto. But then of course, Naruto slabbed one or two Confundus Charms under his sleeves so as to make the job a little bit easier for him. Sakura refused to clean her share of dogs unless she were to be wearing latex gloves. The unnecessary complaint forced the dogs' owner threatened to fire the team, unless Sakura would just suck it up and get her job done and over with.

Having no other choice in the matter, she disgustingly gave in and washed her share of dogs in all the dirty places. And I do mean ALL of the places.

* * *

{{_I Need You by Alexandre Desplat_}}

By the time Team 7 was finished cleaning their client's hounds, it was already the late afternoon. They received their pay of 50,000 ryo, and left outside to discover that Kakashi's earlier prediction about the weather was correct.

The clouds had cleared up to reveal a bright and overwhelming orange sunlit sky. More beautiful and cloudless than the day before.

Naruto, having been locked and locked himself away in the dark because of all the unwanted and overly-terrorizing attention, he was not as used to being out in the light. Especially with a light as warm and bright as the one he was now presented before. With having been separated by light for so long, he felt as if he were a vampire, having been thrown out of his coffin and into the harsh and unforgiving sun to burn into a pile of ashes. Although it did not actually burn or harm him in any way, the blonde teen still felt as if he were thrown into his one and only weakness or something. He recoiled and squinted as orange rays obscured his vision and burned his eyes a little.

With the sun's powerful rays falling down upon them, the entirety of Team 7 removed their cloaks and soaked in the contagious and warm orange light. Once his eyes adjusted to the almost harsh heat and intensity, Naruto also started to slowly removed his own cloak and let his slightly paled skin begin to absorb a healthy and much-needed dosage of Vitamin D. Naruto's let the rays of sun kiss any and all exposed skin on his body and face as he smiled internally while the heat spread from his skin and sank into the rest of his body. He hadn't felt so warm and comfortable out in the open in such a long time. But then his relief was prematurely ended when Sakura looked over to see her teammate almost delight in the warmth and almost look satisfied or even happy. Sakura felt very insulted and displeased by this gesture from her teammate. So to make herself happier from this supposedly harsh day of hers, Sakura grasped her cloak tightly and whipped it, resulting in Naruto getting hit by all her cloak's entrapped water.

Naruto was struck by a blast of harsh, cold water as if it were a heavy bar of metal hitting him at over a hundred and fifty miles per hour. The warmth and any hope that almost brought about a true smile upon Naruto's joy-depraved face had been swiped away by a girl that was more of a witch than he ever was. And Naruto could actually perform magic. With cold water dripping down his hair, clothing, and nose, he glared at Sakura with one of the sharpest looking eyes that had appeared on his face in a long time. The only time his eyes looked more dangerous and frightening being when he faced off with Sasuke and tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra with excess. At seeing her smirk at him and giggle to herself, Naruto had gotten so angry at Sakura, that the water on his head instantly turned into steam, due to magical influence. Hot, boiling rage bubbling in Naruto's insides more than when he ever overheated a potion. It took almost every little fibber in his being and Harry restraining him magically to not to lash out and wail on the pink-haired banshee. Naruto wanted nothing more than to whip out his wand and throw a nasty jinx that would undoubtedly disfigure Sakura's nearly-flawless, pretty face beyond repair.

Sakura was fully aware of what she did and smirked and giggled to herself evilly until Naruto started glaring at her. Meanwhile, Kakashi was too busy admiring the beautiful weather to realize what had happened.

Kakashi turned around and announced, "Alright you guys, unfortunately our mission today dragged on for a bit too long, like yesterday. So I guess that this was our only job for the day, and this is where we shall part ways."

Sakura looked relived and anxious to leave, because every time she glanced over at Naruto, he would shot death-glare after death-glare at her. He timed it perfectly, sensing everytime Sakura would glance over at him, Naruto would throw a glare at her, making it look as if Naruto hadn't even averted his gaze. Right now, she wanted nothing more in the world (apart from being together with Sasuke) than to just get up and run straight for home and call one of her new friends.

Kakashi continued, "But I also have some interesting news!"

Naruto stopped his occasional glares of death and turned along with Sakura to look up at their tall sensei, both of them curious as to what he had to announce to them.

"I have talked to the other jounin last night and together, we have decided to start a new training and mission program. In which, once or twice a week, Team's 8, 10, Team Guy, and our own team will meet and train together. Seeing as you guys need to have more interaction with your age-mates. You guys seemed to have worked better when you were all together during and after the Chunin Exams last year."

Naruto looked a little anxious about the idea. He still hadn't seen or made any contact with any of his friends since the hospital incident. And he didn't know what they thought of him and his somewhat-recently discovered powers. Sakura looked pretty uninterested, still being passionately disdainful at Ino for betraying her and taking Naruto's side to defend him from her. And she was absolutely livid at Hinata for besting her in front of everyone else. Besides, she had been meeting other girls that she knew from school and that had recently graduated from the Academy. She would rather hang out or cooperate with them over any of the other rookie genin. Sakura crossed her arms and tried to resist the temptation to look over at Naruto. While Naruto himself remained solemnly quiet and to himself.

Sensing the tension amongst his students, Kakashi sweat-dropped, "But, uh, we'll talk about this next time we meet, kay?"

Feeling awkward enough as he did, Kakashi coughed and pulled out his Icha-Icha Paradise, just trying to appear nonchalant as usual, "I guess we should talk about this Monday, okay? Enjoy your Saturday and Sunday off, you guys."

Sakura immediately ran away for home so she could plan on what to do for when she would have to re-encounter her old classmates. She also ran away so as to gain as much distance possible away from Naruto. Naruto simply watched as Sakura ran away from him so cowardly and scowled at the shrinking sight of her long, bubblegum-pink hair (A/N: Sakura never cut her hair during the Chunin Exams). He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows even deeper once she had vanished and joined the safety of the crowds of villagers out in the streets that Naruto would hardly dare to walk down again by himself. Kakashi soon put away his Icha-Icha Paradise back in his weapons pouch and sighed deeply before recollecting himself. Naruto noticed Kakashi's movements and immediately realized that he had stayed here alone with his sensei for way too long. Still feeling he could kill someone with the rage that Sakura helped bring out, Naruto ran through the three D's and focused on summoning his magical power to get out of here.

Kakashi suddenly spoke out, "Naruto, we have to talk-"

Suddenly, Kakashi was interrupted by a loud crack in the air. He had looked up just in time to see Naruto's physical figure become suddenly sucked up into a tiny fixated spot no bigger than the point of a ball-point pen. Naruto whisked out of existence and appeared somewhere else, far away from his sensei or anybody else for that matter. Naruto had Disapparated away before Kakashi even had a chance to talk to him.

Kakashi sighed sadly, "This is not going to be easy..."

* * *

Naruto reappeared at Training Ground Three, where the Memorial Stone was held. And he ran up to one of the three wood posts, the one where Sakura sat in front of when Team 7 was officially formed. He quickly imagined seeing Sakura tied onto the post as she deserved to be back when they originally took the bell-test and ran over to it, with chakra blazing invisibly in his clenched fists. Naruto then punched it ferociously, over and over again with his bare hands. He tried imagining if the part of the post was Sakura's face, as he tried to vent out his frustration and anger towards her. He continuously punched at it, causing his knuckles to start bruising darkly. He didn't stop for a solid ten minutes, just punching at the post infuriatingly.

Eventually, Naruto slumped down to the ground and tried to calm himself down, taking slowly paced breaths as Harry started instructed him, '_**Breath... Breath, Little one... Calm down...**_'

"I hate her, Harry! THERE! I said it! I HATE HER!" he suddenly yelled out, confessing how he now truly felt about his only remaining teammate.

Naruto forced himself to pass out and re-enter Harry's chamber. Sitting down at the bed in Harry's room, Harry hugged Naruto as he buried his face into his robes. Harry rubbed Naruto's back and patted him on his head.

"It's okay to admit it now. I was afraid you'd never give up your feelings for her." Harry said with both pity and satisfaction in his voice.

Naruto said into Harry's chest, "A month and a half did the trick, I guess."

Harry sighed.

Naruto had tried not to give into hating Sakura, for he still held strong feelings for her. Even after he humiliated him in front of everyone else. Since then, Harry had tried to convince Naruto to just let her go and forget about her. He fulfilled his promise to her, bringing Sasuke back, so what did he owe her?

Nothing.

She did not return any kind feelings back to him, no matter how nice Naruto was to her. As time went on this past month, Naruto steadily grew more and more impatient and irritable towards her. But at long last, he now gave in and changed his feeling of love for her, into feelings of mutual disdain and resentment. She was now the Pansy Parkinson of Naruto's life.

Harry stopped soothing Naruto and forced him to face him and thankfully Naruto had no waterworks activated from his confession.

Harry smiled and said, "I think it wise to rush and restock on those groceries you need. Wouldn't you think?" Harry asked, to change the subject.

Naruto looked up to Harry and slowly nodded his head, "Yeah... But after that, could I make one more stop before turning in?"

Knowing exactly what Naruto meant, Harry smiled and closed his eyes before saying, "Yes."

* * *

_About 3 Hours Later... At around 9 o'clock_

Kakashi finally finished filing his mission report to the Hokage as quickly and neatly as he could manage. He soon bid the busy old man farewell and left to search for Naruto, wherever he may be. He decided that it had to be done tonight. Kakashi had to talk to him tonight. No excuses and no second thoughts about anything. If he didn't talk to him now, and reconcile after what had happened between them, then Naruto would forever remain out of his reach and remain in the exact same darkness Kakashi plundered into after his father had committed suicide. Kakashi would rather die than have to watch Naruto become what he once was.

He started his search at Ichiraku's where Naruto would commonly be seen. But no Naruto to be found. He asked Teuchi and Ayame if they had seen him anywhere, both of them said that he hadn't come in for ramen since last night. Kakashi thanked them nonetheless and set off for his next location, any location that meant to some significance to Naruto.

He checked Training Ground Three, and didn't see him anywhere near it. His next stop was the Ninja Academy, where he search the playgrounds, the old swing set, and even Iruka's former classroom and office. But he found no sign or scent of him. He even resorted to summoning one of his trusted and loyal nin-kin to search out and track down Naruto's scent, in case he couldn't find him on his own, just to make sure Naruto was not in any trouble or danger.

The final place he had left to look was the blonde's apartment. He soon Shushined to the apartment building and walked up the wood and metal stairs, noting how much more resorted the old apartment building was beginning to look. It seemed that the landlord, Toshi, started earning money by charging local onlookers the chance to get to see the famous wizard of the village. He must have decided to put the money in repairing and restoring the entire building, making it stand out more and look more up-to-date with the rest of the village. Kakashi soon climbed up the stairs and turned to the hallway where Naruto's room was on the top floor and saw something he was NOT expecting to see;

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MISTER! GET US DOWN FROM HERE!"

Kakashi's eyes became as round as saucers, including his Sharingan eye. Because there were three local, greasy-haired teenagers hanging upside down from their ankles by some invisible force right outside of Naruto's door that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. All three of their faces were purple and red, after being held upside down for God knew how long. One of them had appeared to have already passed out with blood drooping out from his mouth and nose while the other two somehow managed to hold out and remain conscious to yell for Kakashi's help.

"Say, did a boy named Naruto do this to you guys?" Kakashi asked flatly.

"YES!" the leader yelled.

Kakashi asked sternly, "Why?"

"WE WERE GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA HIM, 'CAUSE WE WERE BORED! WE HAVEN'T SEEN HIM SINCE THIS MORNING!" one of the goons confessed, wishing nothing more than to get down.

Kakashi looked uninterested in helping them and turned around and started walking away, "Right. See ya!"

Kakashi waved them goodbye, ignoring their calls of, "BUT WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR **NINE HOURS**!" and he went and jogged on.

Upon exiting the building, Kakashi quickly summoned Pakkun and ordered him to cancel his search for Naruto to get the Hokage to undo the jinx on those three delinquent boys. Incidentally, Sarutobi was the only person in the entire village that was powerful enough to reverse a jinx Naruto did, only using powerful chakra techniques to channel out magical effects. Once sure that Pakkun would fulfill his mission to the Hokage, Kakashi walked on to search for Naruto himself.

* * *

Kakashi's options to Naruto's location had quickly run dry after the next half-hour. He searched every place he thought possible, he even searched the music emporium, and yet failed to find him.

Feeling defeated and depressed, Kakashi started taking a walk around town. Thinking of anywhere else he could think to find him and what he would end up saying to Naruto. He walked down the brightly lit streets of Konoha, his Icha-Icha Paradise tucked away into his back pouch. He wasn't in any mood to read up on his dirty book.

The passing footsteps and voices of fellow shinobi and civilians drifted past him as if they didn't even exist. The bright lights of the town cast no light upon the man, as he walked down the streets in a perpetual shadow. How he wished to be free of this familiar looming isolation. The same loneliness he dreaded to have again since the moment Minato-sensei had died, thirteen years ago.

But then he heard something, that caused him to stop in his tracks. What was interesting was that no one else had apparently heard what he heard. He heard a familiar voice singing. A lone, young male voice that was barely audible unless you had the acute sense of hearing as Kakashi had. A few people had heard of this supposed urban legend, called Konoha's Singer of the Night. Where on several occasional nights, a soft, lone voice could be heard across the village. Many civilians didn't believe the tale, for many people didn't/couldn't hear the voice, without the heighten senses that shinobi have.

Several shinobi, who believed the tale was real, could hear the voice fairly well. Most people would be irritated to hear a voice singing in the middle of the night, but no one _ever_ stood up to yell the voice to shut up. Not once. The voice was so enchanting to the ears it fell upon, those who heard had no will to yell at it or stop it.

Kakashi first heard this voice almost six years ago. He was still in the ANBU at the time, and his life was still very difficult for him. He remembered how miserable he felt everyday since Minato-sensei and Rin had perished. Since then, he constantly left the village on missions to either hunt down a criminal or assassinate some weak-willed traitor to the village. All of his assignments, he carried out without hesitation nor mercy. All in an attempt to vent out the pain of losing those whom he considered and loved as his family. He would return to his lonely apartment, collapse onto his bed, and free himself of the nightmare of _being_ the nightmare for somebody else.

He was so utterly alone.

Until one fateful night, when he retired to his bed and stared at his picture of Team Minato, was when he heard it for the first time. He heard the faint sound of a young child's voice singing a song that was completely unfamiliar. The lyrics echoed across the village with the even fainter sound of an orchestra following the playful voice.

_Double, double toil and trouble,_

_Fire burn and cauldron bubble,_

_Double, double toil and trouble,_

_Something wicked this way comes_

(A/N: The child singing, you already know who it is, but this isn't intended to be creepy. It's just a little kid singing to have fun)_  
_

This caused Kakashi to rise from his bed and gravitate towards the source of the song.

_Eye of newt, and toe of frog,_

_Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,_

_Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting_

_Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing_

Kakashi left his apartment and set out to find the source of the singing and hear it more clearly. Since that night, everytime he would hear the Singer, he would set out and try to find whoever it was.

But in all of the times he tried to find them, he had failed miserably. But it also gave him hope of some kind. Hope that maybe things would one day become right and happy again.

And as the years passed, the songs began change and mature. They turned from playful tunes, to more complicated songs that had a variety of feelings and sounds. Some were sad, happy, or even exciting and meaningful. The persons voice also grew deeper and more mature-sounding while the songs changed as well.

Kakashi now heard this mystery voice for the first time in several years, but now, whoever it was, now sung a different song than the others that came before:

_I dreamed I was missing_

_You were so scared,_

_But no one would listen_

_Cause no one else cared,_

Kakashi wasn't really sure why he wanted to set out to find the voice once again, when he should have been thinking about how to reconnect his bond with Naruto.

But something about the voice this time, reeled him in like a fish on a hook. He broke off from the street and into an alleyway nearby. He leaped up and ricocheted off the walls to get to the rooftops, and broke away from the noisy streets of the city and tried to get a better view over the whole village in the hopes of finding the siren easier. Kakashi closed his eyes and focused on searching for the source of the voice, using sound alone.

_After my dreaming_

_I woke with this fear,_

_What am I leaving_

_When I'm done here,_

Kakashi soon opened his eye and scanned his lone eye across the whole village, gazing upon every tall tower and building around him. Just like he did in the many of his past searches.

_So if you're asking me_

_I want you to know,_

He ended his search, looking towards the Hokage Monument. He then closed his eyes after he gazed up into the face of his deceased mentor and sighed and laughed to himself while slapping his hand to his head.

"At long last, I have found you..."

* * *

Naruto leaned against the railing of the newly installed viewing platform atop the Yondiame Hokage's head. He was still pretty upset when he found out upon his return to the village with Shizune, Jiraiya, and Tsunade about the construction done to the treasured monument. It was made so the village could attract more publicity and earn more money by creating a safe viewing platform for civilians and tourists to look down upon the entire village. The village needed any and all financial needs to restore it to it's former glory that Orochimaru and his failed invasion left behind.

(A/N: Oh my god! I just David Yates-ed my own setting! It's the Half-Blood Prince Lightning-Struck Tower all over again! LOL!)

But now, when Naruto looked over the whole thing, the platform really wasn't as bad or damaging as he originally thought. It was actually a very pleasing and pleasant change, there was even a water fountain installed into the center of each platform built on top of each of the four Hokage's. As the years would pass by and a new Hokage face was added to the mountain, another platform could be constructed along with another water fountain to boot. Naruto could help but giggle at the idea of his future face being carved out on the mountain and a water fall installed on top of his head. He couldn't help but laugh internally at the idea of that happening when he became Hokage.

The view itself, being up so high above the ground, was now much more safe with this construction done. If one wished to witness the truly beautiful view of the village from this point, they could do it without the risk of falling. Naruto looked down at the village and sighed sadly before he continued to sing handsomely as the cool wind brushed his messy hair out of his closed eyes,

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some_

_Reasons to be missed_

If there was one thing Harry and the few others knew about Naruto, was that he loved to sing. He didn't do it that often, but when he did, he was amazing at it.

He first discovered his talent and passion for music, when Hayate Gekko introduced him to rock n' roll when he took care of him during his toddler years. And then again when Harry would try humming to Naruto, and help him fall asleep if he ever had any nightmares. One day, when Naruto was no older than seven years old, Harry created a spell that could enhance the user's voice, making the voice sound more beautiful, it even created a sound of background music that sounded like a full and live orchestra when the user sang.

_And don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

With this currently unnamed spell, Harry would sing the Hogwarts School Anthem to Naruto, and would let him sing along until he grew tired and fell asleep. It also gave Naruto a taste of the real Wizarding World he wouldn't be able to experience.

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest_

Eventually, this led Harry into a greater interest into the musical arts and began studying orchestra and the benefits of magical orchestra. While his little brother discovered a newborn talent and passion for music and singing. He would sing, with the help of that spell, to vent out his emotions, just as he was right now, atop the Yondiame's head. While Naruto sang this particular song, he couldn't help but think of his team right now. Only he wondered how he would ever manage to endure any more of this agonizing bull crap they put him through. Everyday, Sakura had been insulting him non-stop, and would compare him to Sasuke on almost every subject matter, when it came most appropriate to mention.

'_Sasuke-kun can could pull out those weeds better than you are, Naruto-baka!' _or _'You're doing it wrong, loser! Sasuke-kun is more swift!'_

It was always Sasuke-kun this and Sasuke-kun that. Naruto was honestly about to explode with irritance one of these days.

This was the problem when it came to Sakura. Harry never approved, nor did he ever like Sakura from the moment Naruto first met her at the Ninja Academy. Harry knew who her parents were and how they treated Naruto. Sakura was always self-centered and obnoxiously rude to Naruto then and now to this day. Harry assumed Naruto only liked her for her pretty pink hair and intelligence, but Naruto never took her personality into account to back up her looks and talent.

After everything that had happened since they became partners, Naruto still stuck close behind her despite her faults. He defended her, complimented her, and even cared for her when she was troubled or worried. And then she rejected him in front of all those people at the hospital. Naruto from that point on, slowly but very surely began to hate Sakura while the months passed by and he began to unveil how ugly of a person she truly was. He soon felt uncomfortable and even threatened for even being nearby her in the same place. He didn't need all of the crap she threw at him now like some ape, all of the constant remarks and the destructive criticism was just hurting him.

_Forgetting_

_All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well_

It wasn't hard for Naruto to quickly sum up his feelings for her now. After she humiliated him and rejected him after all this time, causing him to spiral into this whirlpool of depression. Now she holds nothing but blind contempt and hatred for him, and Naruto now hated her back almost just as much.

_Pretending_

_Someone else can come and save me from myself_

_I can't be who you are_

Letting her go was difficult for awhile, but soon his new resolve for her now was not arguable to him.

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some_

_Reasons to be missed_

Kakashi on the other hand was a little bit different for Naruto to deal with.

He kept asking himself, how could he just relax and pretend that everything is alright after Sasuke betrayed them? Naruto couldn't stand seeing Kakashi now. How he would give his usual eye-smile and act like the Chunin Exam or the court hearing didn't happen. Naruto didn't care if ever hurt Kakashi by ditching him on his offers or ignore Kakashi like he did now. That man had left Naruto behind without even telling him that he was going to leave to train Sasuke for an entire month. Naruto found out about that detail soon after he was arranged to meet with Jiraiya, thanks to Anko and Hayate.

After he convinced the Sannin into training him, he sought to find Sasuke and get Jiraiya to teach them both. But after searching for both Sasuke and Kakashi for almost twelve hours, fearing something had happened to them, he found out at breakfast the next morning from Anko Mitarashi, that Kakashi had completely blown Naruto off and abandoned him to train Sasuke instead for the Final Rounds of the Chunin Exams.

_Don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

Naruto felt broken and hurt after he had trusted Kakashi like he did and then have that trust be stomped and spat on by him.

It was because Naruto was a frequent victim of abandonment throughout his entire life, he really began to hate Kakashi for always favoring Sasuke. Kakashi could have all the time in the world for Sasuke and yet not a single second to talk to Naruto, let alone teach him. Naruto had to resort to turning to Iruka, Hayate, or even Anko once or twice along the road.

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest_

It didn't stop there, Naruto had to deal with the death of his friend Hayate without Kakashi even knowing his connection to him. He even denied that Naruto had any relations with Hayate just so that he could drag him along to be thrown off to the side again like a lifeless doll. Kakashi was never there for him after the battle against his new friend Gaara and wasn't there after Hayate had died. With Kakashi being an insensitive bastard to Naruto, he found going to Jiraiya for training an extremely easy decision for him. Naruto had decided to not tell Kakashi of this arrangement and have him know how it felt from his end to be left behind with worry over your teammate. Naruto also thought that going to Jiraiya and becoming more powerful than Sasuke, he could then rub it in Kakashi's face when he returned with Tsunade and say, 'I did all that, WITHOUT YOUR HELP!' and in a way, fully get back at Kakashi for hurting his feelings and ditching him after all that had happened after and during the Chunin Exams.

_Forgetting_

_All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well_

But he didn't really get exactly what he wanted from the whole experience. Instead, he formed a pretty damn strong bond with Jiraiya in the time they had spent on the run from village to village. All of it starting when Jiraiya saved Naruto's life from a dementor attack. He could never forget how Jiraiya would check up on him and truly worry about Naruto's well-being and how they started to have fun while they traveled to search for Tsunade while also training to learn the Rasengan. He now saw Jiraiya as the mentor that he always wanted, a person whom he could enjoy being in the presence of while also working his butt off to please. Unlike Kakashi, he was actually reliable for most of the time and together they had several wacky adventures. One of them including an incident at an opium den.

_Pretending_

_Someone else can come and save me from myself_

Naruto never got an exciting adventure or epic battles with Kakashi, he only got ignored and thought of as less important when it came to Sasuke. Nowadays, Kakashi acts as if nothing had even happened. He even ignored the fact that Naruto had almost died as the result of him training Sasuke exclusively in the first place. And the fact that his secret having now been made known to the country, and to extension, probably the whole world by now. Naruto's life was now crumbling before his very eyes, and Kakashi was standing behind Naruto with a smile on his face.

_I can't be who you are_

'_How could he do that to me? Leave and not care who he hurts in the process?' _Naruto thought to himself painfully.

_I can't be who you are_

* * *

{{_A Window To The Past by John Williams_}}

Kakashi landed noiselessly in at the end of the smooth and highly polished white stone steps of the viewing platform. He made his way silently towards the end of the platform, careful not to disturb Naruto while he sang. He steadily made his presence known to him after he was sure he had finished and reapplied the sound of his natural steps. Kakashi saw as Naruto slumped down to lean on the railing and looked down at the glowing city beneath him, determinedly ignoring Kakashi who sat down on the bench nearby Naruto and looked at him calmly and with a smile on his masked face. Naruto shivered slightly when a particularly cold breeze swept over him.

Kakashi said, "I never imagined that Konoha's Siren was you, Naruto... Then again, I shouldn't be so surprised with what I found out about you from that meeting so long ago..."

Naruto remained silent and unmoving.

"...I... really have unfairly underestimated you, Naruto... But how about we just forget about the past and move on with our lives...? Go back to the way things were before... What do you say?" Kakashi started reasoning.

Naruto said nothing back to him.

"Naruto," Kakashi beckoned out to his student, "please, stop doing this."

Naruto dared to question, "Why the bloody hell should I?"

Kakashi sighed and said, "... Naruto, I understand that you're still mad at me, but I don't see why you should keep holding this grudge against me."

Naruto's body finally moved again from being frozen. Naruto had lowered his head and curled into himself slightly while Kakashi could feel a radiated power pulse out from him in the form of killer-intent along with a mixture of magic. None of it was aimed at anywhere in particular and instead of making it's way to harming Kakashi as many would imagine, it just pulsed out of Naruto and evaporated before it could target itself anywhere.

"Those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Does that sound familiar?" Naruto quoted with his voiced raised higher.

Kakashi flinched at Naruto's words as well as the power he let come out with that statement, and looked up at the beautiful night sky that was predicted to show up, regardless of the village lights just below them both. He couldn't deny that the sky looked so beautiful and thought back to the times when Minato-sensei would have his team remain out in the training fields long after dark, just so that they could be with each other and take in mother nature's beauties together. The reason he brought this up earlier this morning was because he was hoping that maybe his students would want to do the same thing and be friends again.

"... Naruto... I understand that you are angry at me for what I did. But can't you just let it go? It's the past now, and holding onto it is only causing you more pain."

Naruto said firmly, raising his voice even higher, "Just because it's the past now, doesn't mean it never happened!"

Kakashi started desperately, "Naruto, please..."

"NARUTO PLEASE, WHAT?" he yelled unexpectedly, spinning around and grasping his wand firmly in his right hand.

Kakashi noticed that several gold and scarlet sparks emitted from the tip of his magical instrument, as Naruto faced him with a contorted and livid expression on his slightly paler faced.

"Why should I have to care about _anything_ you've got to say?" he yelled at his sensei.

Kakashi remained calm and answered, "Because I'm trying to help you, Naruto."

"OH! So you're trying to _help me_, huh?" Naruto said sarcastically, "Shall I riff a list of how you've _helped me_ these past months?"

Naruto didn't bother waiting for him to say anything and went ahead and got started, "For _months_, you've either ignored me or you disregarded anything I said as unimportant due to your _busy schedule_ of Sasuke training. You _abandoned me _to fend for myself in those Exam Finals without _any_ help from _anyone_! At least I had Hayate and Jiraiya to prepare me and help me against Neji and Gaara! You never _bothered_ visiting me in the hospital when I had my arm broken and mangled, but had _plenty of time _in the world for Sasuke bloody Uchiha! You forgot about my birthday when everyone _else_ in the world remembered! I got _both_ my arms nearly _ripped out_ by Sasuke and a Chidori _shoved through my freaking chest_! Oh, did I forget to mention... YOU LET ME THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW THAT I'M A WIZARD AND HAD ME EXPOSED TO THE VILLAGE, LIKE SOME GODDAMN MUSEUM EXHIBIT!" Naruto yelled to the point where he thought his throat would tear open clean.

Sparks then flew out of the tip of his wand madly like fireworks. Kakashi looked at him in his eyes in his usual detached and tired look, hiding the overwhelming guilt that quickly built up inside his chest.

"Now everyone in the village thinks I'm a some _freak_, Sakura hates me, **and I don't have any friends anymore!**"

Naruto screamed, his voice carrying loud and long echoes that could be made out just barely in the village below him. He then threw his arms in a violent swing, as if he meant to punch something with all his might which caused his wand to slip out of his grip and fly out of his hand and loudly clatter all the way next to the base of the fountain. He tried holding himself up on the railing, and looked down at his tennis shoes, seething while he did so.

"One of the worst things of all is that I lost someone I thought was close to me... Or I could be close to..." Naruto said with nothing but hurt laced in his voice, "... I lost my one of my best friends, only to find out that he wasn't even my friend at all... How could I fall for such a fake friendship...? I trusted that son of a bitch... I confided in him, offered him everything I could possibly give him to keep his mouth shut, and what does he do? He sells me out to save his own worthless skin and he laughed in my face... In front of all of those people... He effing sold me out like a snitch..."

Naruto held onto the railing with one hand, while he clenched a tight, pale-white fist with his other hand, digging his fingernails deep into his palm.

"... I hate him... I hate him so much, that I wish he were dead..." Naruto, at last, quietly admitted with unimaginable hatred radiating off of him.

Naruto just wanted to leave right now, but felt so weighed down with the lump welling up in his throat and the churning in his stomach made him feel too nauseous to Apparate away. So he decided to just run away like last time. He tried sprinting away from Kakashi, but he was way too fast for Naruto to have a chance to leave and he tackled Naruto before he could get away. The student and teacher both fell to the ground, Kakashi wrapped his strong arms around Naruto, as the blond tried to free himself and get away by writhing and throwing out his arms and legs.

"Stop it! STOP IT, I'M SUPPOSE TO HATE YOU!" Naruto yelled at his sensei, as he began to punch Kakashi's chest weakly in a half-hearted attempt to escape from his grasp. He began to whimper, trying his absolute best not to release all of his inner turmoil.

"Then don't hate me anymore... Please stop trying to, Naruto... Just let it out... Just let it out, Naruto..." Kakashi spoke with such a soothing, fatherly voice that was undeniably alien to both him and Naruto.

The blonde felt shaken when he heard it. And with no more self-control left in him, he finally gave in... and he sobbed and cried like a small child.

He held onto Kakashi's jounin vest and sobbed into the masked crevice in his neck and shoulder. While Kakashi held him close to him in a warming hug, resting his one hand on top of Naruto's blond mop and rubbed soothing circles onto his back with his other. Kakashi sighed noiselessly, as Naruto continued to cry. He had finally accepted that he now hated Sasuke, as he should. He finally gave up his stubbornness and retreated to Kakashi to lean on for support.

Fifteen minutes of crying later, Naruto finally calmed down and spoke up again.

"I'm a pathetic excuse for a ninja... I should've-I should've just died at the Valley of the End... Then I wouldn't t-to-"

"No, Naruto." Kakashi held Naruto tighter, scared that Naruto would ever think himself better dead, instead of what he faced now. He held his student close to him, actually afraid that if he let go he could disappear.

"That wouldn't make anything better for you at all." he said sadly, he then pulled away Naruto to look at him and lifted his chin up with his finger, "And you are not pathetic at all, not in the least bit, Naruto. Understand that... I understand how hurt you are right now, and I am _so_ so sorry. I made a stupid, _stupid_ mistake to hurt you like that. And you have every right to be furious at me for everything bad that's happened to you these past months. I'm the one at fault here, not you. But there are some details and important factors of this story that you don't know that you should have been told to begin with..."

Naruto looked up at his sensei with tears still flowing down his face, with a confused expression, "What?"

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "Get ready. This is a very long story."

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi sat down at the bench nearby the water fountain and Naruto started to calm down and stop pouring out tears. There, Kakashi explained why he ignored Naruto in the first place, just as he told Iruka the night before. Kakashi told him everything beginning with Jiraiya telling him to neglect his student while he focused on Sasuke, told him of Jiraiya's good intentions all th way to the point when he lectured Sasuke on what he was doing wrong all the way down to the point where he confronted him again in the hospital and backhanded him for his crimes (As well as the details of the hearing that led to Naruto's unforgettable dilemma with the Council).

When he was finished, Naruto stared at Kakashi for several long minutes, completely unresponsive, until he finally said, "... You're aware that that was an incredibly _stupid_ idea, right?"

Kakashi snorted humorously at the fact that Naruto and Iruka practically said the exact same thing all the way down to the same tone of voice.

He soon turned serious again and answered, "Yes. I thought, at the time (since Jiraiya is supposed to be this powerful and all-knowing Sannin and all) that he knew what he was doing and did what would be best for you and Sasuke when it came down to the Akatsuki threat... But please don't hate Jiraiya for doing this. He already likes you a whole lot, and hating him won't change anything."

Naruto sniffed away a few tears and said, "... He can be nice now and again... He's a real good guy at heart once you get to know him... But I bet you and Sasuke must've had a _real blast _for a while without me around, huh?"

Kakashi turned wide-eyed and snorted again.

"PFFT! No! To be honest, Sasuke was an incredibly boring student to teach. That month away from the village left me with a migraine like no other in my life. Ugh, I was still so irritated when we got back..." Kakashi told his student.

"What d'you mean?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kakashi explained, "Sasuke learns everything too easily and unfairly with his Sharingan. He puts no real effort into everything he does or learns, therefore he is boring and incredibly dull. Even if he is a genius. Plus, I hate it when someone like Sasuke acts so exceedingly arrogant all the time. I had to start giving him exclusive training as part of my bargain... To convince Sasuke to stop using his curse-mark from Orochimaru, I applied a sealing jutsu on it that could only suppress the mark based on his willingness to resist using it. To help motivate, I mean bargain with him to keep from using the mark, I promised to teach him how to use the Chidori..."

Naruto mumbled to himself, "That arrogant and ungrateful bastard..."

"You're telling me. Do you remember that unnecessarily flashy entrance we made at the Exam Finals?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that was _his_ idea. He refused to go back and cooperate with the curse-mark suppressant unless he made an impressive entrance for all to see. Kami help me, I wanted to shoot myself more than half the time I was with him."

At hearing his sensei say that, Naruto slowly laughed slightly, with a small and genuine smile on his face, "Hehehehe! That makes two of us, sensei."

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask at seeing his student finally smile in front of him for the first time in what seemed like ages to him. It was first positive and genuine emotion Naruto let out in front of anyone other than those closest to him in months. In the mindscape, Harry smiled in satisfaction and reached out with a magical touch to pat Naruto on the back, but oddly enough, Kakashi beat him there to it and shook Naruto playfully like a father would do to a son.

"Your different from him Naruto. Much different."

Naruto questioned, "Why? 'Cause I have phenomenal magical powers and I don't strut around the village like an arrogant-arse (like Sasuke) because of it?"

"Nah, its because you're a geek. And I always liked that about you... I always did..." he smiled.

"I'm a nerd, not a geek, Kaka-sensei." Naruto smirked a little bit.

Kakashi laughed a little, "See Naruto? This is why we should have been spending more time together! Catch me up on these things, will ya?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little bit himself, finding it contagious. It was then, that Naruto realized why he was so miserable. He refused to let himself forgive. If just this one time. Naruto felt as if the hole in his chest from when Hayate died and when his sensei left him out of the loop had suddenly been filled and restored almost back to the way it was before. Kakashi firmly put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and had him face him again.

"All joking aside, I am truly and utterly sorry for everything that happened to you... You are going through experiences a person your age should not have to deal with... And you are not a pathetic ninja, Naruto... Unlike many other ninja I've met before, you are by far one of the most brave and strong. With defeating Neji, Gaara, Kabuto, and Sasuke, you've blown away any and all expectations I've held for you before... And I am very, _very_ proud that you've made it this far."

'_...And yet, you still take it this tough...' _he thought to himself sadly.

Naruto sniffed once more and rubbed a tear away with his sleeve. He then moved forward and wrapped his arms around his sensei and hugged Kakashi, finally saying at last, "... You're forgiven..."

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair playfully and let him stay in the embrace for a few more moments before separating, "All in a good day's work, Naruto."

He got up from the bench and looked up at the full moon, listened to the splashing fountain behind him and said, "It's really getting late, Naruto. I'll take you home, okay?"

Kakashi didn't hear a response from the teen and turned around, after hearing a soft thud coming from behind him. He saw Naruto having apparently collapsed on the bench, totally asleep.

Kakashi laughed and said, "From all that crying and yelling, it's no wonder he's so tired. Poor little guy."

He picked Naruto up and hunched him over his shoulder. He noticed the boy's wand still laying down next to the water fountain he threw it at. He knelt down and picked it up warily and carefully placed it in Naruto's hand once he placed him in his arms, bridal-style. Kakashi, now satisfied, disappeared with his student in his arms with a swirl of leafs and wind, Naruto safely secure and asleep in his arms during the entire trip.

* * *

Kakashi reappeared outside of Naruto's apartment, noticing that the Hokage had gotten rid of those greasy-haired teenagers from earlier. He looked over to see Naruto's door not yet there in existence and waited for a few minutes patiently, concentrating on the location he had memorized a few months ago. No sooner after remembering the location of Naruto's apartment, a missing door slowly emerged out from nowhere in between the two numbers of the neighboring apartments. This followed swiftly by a newly-born beige wall followed by a recently installed window that was made of black glass. From the distance, Kakashi observed the new window and noticed that the glass was too thick to possible see through, unless you were on the other side of it. While this all happened, the lights of the other newly occupied apartments did not switch on by the obvious event unfolding before Kakashi's eyes. While it all happened, the entire building grumbled like an animal and shook as if it were alive. For reasons left to be explained by magic, the muggles and civilians that now lived in the rest of the building remain oblivious to what Kakashi was seeing right now. Before the evaluation exams even began but right after Naruto returned home from the hospital, he (with Harry's help) placed the Fidelius Charm on his own home and made himself the Secret-Keeper. He had the Sandaime Hokage and several others whom the Hokage personally trusted to read the message of the apartments location before destroying the message. One of these people the Hokage decided to trust was Kakashi.

Soon, the action stopped once Naruto's apartment had appeared. Kakashi then opened Naruto's apartment door with his copy of Naruto's room key, which was given to him by the Sandiame over a year ago upon becoming Naruto's sensei.

When he entered the apartment, he was very surprised to see that the apartment itself was a lot longer and much bigger on the inside than it looked outside, to the point where it seemed physically and geometrically impossible to be. Standing there before him was a long, narrow, and darkly lit hallway with no visible ceiling. This scenery actually looked very eerie and creepy-looking being in the dark, almost giving the 'house' an aged and abandoned feeling to it. But then Kakashi looked back towards the door, below the now crystal clear-window and saw a switch with an adjustable brightness setting. He set it on to low, so as not to wake up his student and was surprised to see that the walls were royally decorated with colors of red, orange, and even traces of gold. Kakashi looked up at the now-visible ceiling and saw that it wasn't endless and that it was color beige. At the end of the long hallway, there was a door, that Kakashi could see from the distance that read the golden word,"Bathroom". There was also a door directly to his left and right respectively labeled, "Kitchen" and "Naruto's Room".

He stepped forward towards "Naruto's Room" and looked down to see to his amazement that there was a built-in English-styled carpeting laid out throughout the whole hallway. Kakashi was absolutely bewildered by what he saw tonight in the home of his only remaining male student. He soon summed up that Naruto must have done this to the apartment using some kind of magic spell some time in between his search for him when Naruto left to find Tsunade with Jiraiya and now. But he had no idea that magic could possibly do something as fast and immensely incredible as refurbishing and internally expanding the space of any entire living quarters.

"Incredible..." Kakashi breathed.

He soon entered Naruto's room, taking in the site of his room as well. Instead of being plain, boring, and undecorated except for a ramen poster and a calender on the wall, Kakashi found this room to be dramatically changed and altered as well. Naruto's room was painted with orange walls and posters decorated all over the entire room, including the ceiling. Some of the most recent-looking posters were that of dark gothic themes including vampires, werewolves, and gothic cryptic symbols. Other posters had spectacular and artistic designs of Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel comic book heroes. Several other posters were concert posters featuring Linkin Park, AC-DC, Aerosmith, Asia, Utada Hikaru, ayumi hamasaki, Beck, Muse, and The Killers. One or two posters were that of a shinobi recruitment and another showing the four Hokage in an impressively decorated design of them hovering over the village in person instead of as stone faces. The remaining posters posted all over the walls were that of strange-looking foreign athletes wearing colorful robes, armor, goggles, and riding on flying broomsticks like stereotype witches and throwing, catching, and evading various gaming balls.

{{_A Really Big Web! by Danny Elfman_}}

Kakashi tried his best to shake off the urge to just stay here and observe the rest of Naruto's surrounding environment and focused back on getting Naruto to bed. He carefully stepped his way over to Naruto's bed in the middle of the room and placed Naruto's wand on his bedside table with care. He then rested Naruto to sit on his bed and carefully removed Naruto's sporting jacket for him, and then laid him down on his bed to finally rest. He threw a blanket over his skinny body and pulled up a chair to watch his student sleep for a while. He noticed Naruto's expression as the young teenager slept, and Kakashi smiled behind his mask, content.

Naruto looked so... at peace.

Kakashi saw many different expressions on Naruto before, but not one like this. He never saw him look so content before, as if something that should have happened a long time ago, had finally come and happened. Despite this tender and emotional moment, Kakashi was a little fearful for Naruto's future. Not because of the villagers, enemy ninja, or the Akatsuki threat. He was afraid that if something like _this_ were to happen again, next time, Naruto could find coming back into the light would be more difficult than it was for him this time. What if next time, he might not find his way back to the light at all? Kakashi shook the thought aside, convinced himself that he was probably catching mother-hens from Iruka or something silly like that.

He ruffled Naruto's hair again (lightly this time), accidentally revealing Naruto's lightning bolt shaped scar and said to his precious student, "G'night, Naruto."

He then got up and left the apartment silently, turning off all of the lights and followed in the same footsteps he took when coming in. Kakashi closed the door to the apartment and heard the door sink back into the wall again as before and he walked back home with little people traffic in his way. He looked up at the moon and determined by it's position that it was about midnight and walked on home, truly happy that he had finally reached out and reconnected to his only sane student left. When he returned to his own home late that night, he stormed right into his room and collapsed down upon his own bed that night without so much as taking off his jounin uniform and placing a blanket over himself. He soon rolled lazily to his side and looked over at his bedside table and started staring at his picture of Team Minato with a smile for the first time in a long while.

He then said in a voice of sweet satisfaction, "Obito, I think I found you through somebody else now... I feel now, that I can smile when I see you in both memory and picture... I thank you..."

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Kvsyaoran: You're gonna get it, Azeroth44!**

**(Several minutes of punches and Kung-Fu kicks later)**

**Azeroth44: HIYA! UPPER-CUT!**

**(Kvsyaoran is launched sky high straight into the ceiling, his head fully buried)**

**Kvsyaoran:****(muffled)****Okay you win, this time.  
**

**Naruto: DAMMIT! I lost twenty bucks!**

**Harry: Thank you! (Snatching away Naruto's money from him and counting)**

**Kvsyaoran: That's it for today. I'll get him next time, I promise. (dusting debris off of his head and shoulders) **

* * *

**Reviews are most helpful! Keep them nice, please! Thank you! And Happy 4th of July to everyone!**

**(Plays the song 'Fireworks')**

**The song Naruto sang as a child was Double Trouble by John Williams **

**The song sung in the present day was Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park**

**Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men, and Fantastic Four all belong to Marvel Comics and Stan "The Man" Lee respectively**

**Linkin Park, AC-DC, Aerosmith, Asia, Utada Hikaru, ayumi hamasaki, Beck, Muse, and The Killers all belong to their respected owners**

* * *

**Preview:**

"I-I, uh... I wanted to give you these, Hinata."

* * *

**Next Time: A Gathering of Friends  
**


	9. A Gathering of Friends

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

**Hello, once again. I hope you guys really liked chapter 8. I had to work on that chapter for over a month, but I think I finally got it right. I hope this version turned out well.**

**As for my payback for Azeroth44 making me pay for my ceiling repair and giving me head-trauma, you guys are about to find out.**

**Kvsyaoran: Oh, Azeroth44! Could you come in here please?**

**(30 seconds later)**

**Azeroth44: Yeah, dude? Need something?**

**Kvsyaoran: (Jumps out from behind chair) EAT FIRE! (Blasting a fully fueled flamethrower right at Azeroth44)**

**Azeroth44: OH MY GOD! (Flees as fast as humanly possible from destructive deathly dragon flames)**

**Kvsyaoran: This ought to teach ya, for smashing my head into my ceiling!**

**Naruto: Get him, Kvsyaoran! He cost my twenty bucks!**

**(Somewhere elsewhere, at a local bank)**

**Harry: Yes. Can I get this traded for eighteen Galleons, please?**

**Banking Clerk: What?**

**Harry: I meant eighteen euro, please. Stupid muggle banking system...**

* * *

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

Chapter 9: A Gathering of Friends

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up slowly by the light shining through his window in combination with the light that reflected off of all of his posters. Yawning loudly and stretching his arms and back after a good night's sleep.

But then he stopped immediately and realized, '_Wait a minute! I'm home? How did I get home? And I'm actually well-rested! Wait! Last night-_'

'_**Incredible, huh?**_' Harry's voice sounded, '_**You actually slept an entire night, little one.**_' Harry smiled.

Naruto thought slowly, '_I remember last night... Kaka-sensei... he..._'

Naruto smiled, remembering the events from last night. How Kakashi finally pulled through for him, and told him the truth behind his actions for the last year. Although Naruto had to admit that he was still a little bit skeptical and angry at his Jiraiya for having orchestrated this entire façade that caused him so much stress and pain. But he then tossed the thought aside, understanding that Jiraiya probably thought only what was the best decision at the time for the greater good.

Harry smirked a little bit and asked, '_**It's really quite surprising, isn't it?**_'

'_What's interesting?_' Naruto asked curiously.

Harry chuckled, '_**Kakashi Hatake actually has a human heart... Funny isn't it?**_'

Naruto didn't respond, instead, he smiled and stretched his body once more before he got up and out of bed to tend to his Saturday morning ritual. He walked out to get gather his clothes in high spirits for the first time in so many months. Before he stormed off to take a nice, long shower, he looked over to his bedside table and saw a picture frame set face-down right next to his ivy wand and picture of his mother, Kushina. He walked across the room and knelt down onto his bed and kneeled before the table and slowly picked the glass-shattered picture frame containing Naruto's portrait of Team 7 shortly after they had officially become a team with completing the bell-test. After some hesitation, Naruto calmly replaced the photograph by picking up his wand and tapping the glass.

He said calmly, "_Reparo!_"

And the shattered and broken glass that Naruto had purposely broken shortly upon his return from the hospital was instantly repaired. The glass made several irritating scratching and reversed-breaking noises while the spell he cast on it did it's work and restored the glass and photo to it's original state. Once repaired, Naruto scowled at the unmoving forms of his teammates but soon sighed once he looked up at Kakashi's face. It looked as if he were sighing while also keeping a firm and affectionate grip over both Naruto and Sasuke, as if he were trying to hold them back from each other while also trying not to be too forceful or hurt either one of his students. Naruto couldn't even remember what it was that he and Sasuke were fighting about on that day, but whatever it was, it didn't matter to him anymore. He tried to look back to their time as a team earlier on before those disastrous Chunin Exams and thought back to when they acted like civilized human beings. The only time Naruto could recall of being the time spent at the Land of Waves. He could actually remember back when he and Sasuke actually acted like friends during the tree-climbing exercises but then he sighed. Naruto summed up that it was probably around the time he was holding Sasuke's almost dead body that he decided that Naruto was his primary target to obtain the new level of Sharingan. He grunted at thinking about it and soon looked away from Sasuke to look up at his sensei's expression and smiled again. Naruto didn't bother looking at Sakura's face in the picture and went on to plop it back down on his desk.

After that was done and settled, Naruto got up from his bed and walked off to gather his new clothes and take his eagerly awaited shower.

"Hmm..." he thought out loud, "I wonder if I should practice sword-fighting again or if I should practice spell-casting instead...?"

* * *

_Monday morning, 8 o'clock_

Naruto felt extremely anxious when Monday morning arrived at last. He was now already dressed and had his weapons strapped in all the right places. Today he was wearing a pale-blue t-shirt emblazoned with the black mark of the Deathly Hallows again, olive-colored baggy pants with assorted pockets and pouches, his headband hanging freely around his neck, and his new signature sports jacket that he'd grown accustom to wearing with nearly all his clothes. He had just slipped on a fresh, new pair of white socks and looked just about ready to pounce out of his home and to the usual meeting spot. But before he could get up and leave, he was having a great deal of trouble simply re-lacing his shoes, fiddling with them nervously. He tried using the same newly-learned method he had learned from Tsunade and tried loopty-looping his laces as fast as he could, but each time he tried tying them, he messed up and they came loose as soon as he tried tightening them yet again.

"ARGH! Stupid shoelaces!" Naruto growled frustratingly.

Harry chided his little brother, '_**Oh for goodness sakes, Naruto. Take a deep breath and just relax.**_' he then went back to soothingly sipping some of his morning Jasmine tea and imitation dessert tart.

Naruto said nervously, '_How can I possibly relax, Nii-san? I haven't seen any of the other genin in months!'_

'_**What can you possible be nervous about? They're your friends aren't they?**_' Harry insisted questioningly.

Naruto replied, '_I'm not even sure about that. A lot can happen in a few months, Harry. I didn't have any time to talk to anyone except for Gaara. His friendship is the only one I'm sure that I've got._'

'_**You had a very **_**interesting**_** encounter with Hinata-chan. that should could for something, with the way she was holding you so tenderly...**_' Harry smirked

'_EEP!_' Naruto squeaked embarrassingly, '_Well... we didn't really talk that day in a matter of speaking. I just cried and sort of passed out while she and I hugged... Either way, it's the other guys I'm worried about. I know that Ino is Sakura's best friend and chances are that she might treat me just as badly as Sakura did for what I did to Uchiha... She'll probably gut me alive for being one of the people that got him chucked out of the village._' Naruto explained.

Harry sighed tiredly, '_**You don't know that, Naruto.**_'

He placed his tea down by his desk in his office chamber and said to Naruto, '_**Ino may be a Sasuke Uchiha-fangirl, but she didn't lash out at you for no reason, like Sakura did. Didn't she try to hold Haruno back from attacking you?**_'

Naruto thought back, trying to remember the events at the hospital. He couldn't recall actually seeing Ino stand up to defend him, but he could distinctly remember hearing someone sounding like Ino call someone a bitch as he ran away.

'_Yeah, I think you might be right on this one... Maybe she'll be nice... So long as she doesn't hate me for Uchiha having gone insane... But what about the other guys? Don't you think they would be little freaked out at me or something? What if they're not comfortable with being around someone who's magic? If they start keeping a distance away from me, like I'm some kind of ticking time bomb or something?'_

Harry sighed for what felt like the twentieth time that morning, '_**If they were afraid of you, they wouldn't have tried to visit you a few months ago... Naruto, you have nothing to fear. It's not like they're going to be waiting for you at the training ground with pitch forks and torches. You helped a good deal of those people, one way or another. What possible reasons would they have to scorn or hate you for what you are?**_'

Naruto had no rebuttal, so he remained silent as his answer.

'_**Exactly. If anything, Naruto, they are probably **_**more**_** fascinated by you. I personally believe that they would want to know more about you, and get to be closer friends to you now.**_'

Naruto smiled a little bit having finally calmed down enough to lace up his shoes.

'_**That's the spirit, Little one. Now get up off your arse and get to that training field already! Constant Vigilance!**_' Harry shouted, jokingly imitating Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

Naruto left his bedroom and went to his kitchen across the hall. He then walked over and opened his refrigerator and carefully pocketed the lilies he got from Harumi-san to gift to Hinata. Blushing slightly at the thought of giving the flower to her, Naruto smiled at the smile he predicted for Hinata to have and couldn't wait to give them to her. With the flowers tucked away securely in his jacket, Naruto left his kitchen after a quick breakfast of toast and jam and headed for the front door. He looked out his only window and checked to see that the coast was clear enough for him to leave without giving away the location of his home. Naruto watched as one of his new neighbors exited their home and left through the end of the hallway. Once clear, Naruto picked up his wand and tapped the doorknob, "_Alohomora!_"

Naruto left his apartment and locked his door quickly and ran out of his apartment, feeling a little bit more confidant about the rest of the day.

* * *

Sakura woke up that same morning as her teammate, around the same time or maybe a bit earlier. She took her time touching up on her makeup and hair and carefully sorted out all of the weapons in her newly bought weapons pouch, specially designed to hold in more weapons than her old one, particularly kunai. As soon as she was finished brushing her long, bubblegum-pink hair she finally bid her parents farewell and left her family's house. Once sure she had gathered everything, Sakura marched down the street, ready to meet the other genin. But first she would have to meet with Kakashi and Naruto, and then they would go to the selected meeting place together.

Over the weekend, Sakura discussed with her parents that she could no longer receive any proper training from Kakashi. Not that it was a matter of that he refused to train her or the other way around with her not wanting to be trained, it was because he was _unable_ to train her properly at this point. Sakura's method of ninjutsu was more appropriate for her to expert in something that involved more chakra control than physical practice. She was more properly suited to becoming either a genjutsu mistress like Kurenai Yuhi or a skilled medical ninja, such as Shizune or even Tsunade (with such perfect chakra control she had). Sakura wasn't built for intense physical training or rather mastering powerhouse-level ninjutsu, like her teammates Naruto or Sasuke.

After a long discussion on Saturday, Sakura's parents decided to talk to the higher-up members of the village's council about their daughter's training and managed to get her signed up for a separate training program that was beginning this upcoming summer. Lady Tsunade, the current chief of the Konohagakure Hospital was leading the program and gathering young kunoichi and shinobi to practice in her specified art of medical practice. She would teach her future students on how the body worked and how to treat it, poison it, and resort it back to almost perfect health. The course was designed to last all the way throughout the year and have a side program of physical field training along with a possible assistant job/internship at the local hospital. The road ahead Sakura at possibly taking up this program had a lot of opportunities for her to follow and make her undoubtedly strong and useful. Plus, it was a perfect way for her to get away from Naruto, out of fear that he would one day cast a spell on her or something. She expressed her fear of being around Naruto and even lied about him to score points for the Council to let her join, seeing as she was drastically late to sign up for the classes. Plus, saying what lies she told her parents was also going to (maybe) get Naruto into trouble. The thought of that caused a wide, happy smile to turn up her face while she walked down the street.

But before she could celebrate and dance, Sakura still had yet to hear from the council on whether or not she had yet gotten into the program despite her tardiness. But for now, she would have to train on her own briefly, study up on any medical jutsu that she can get her hands on, and accomplish missions with her team while also inadvertently training to become stronger accomplishing them.

Sakura arrived on time, as usual. Waiting for her teammate and sensei to show up. She stood, leaning on the side of the bridge silently. Today looked like a pretty promising day, the skies were only a little bit cloudy, the temperature wasn't too hot or cold.

It was just perfect.

All was well until Naruto silently crept up on top of Kakashi's place on the red archway without so much as casting a shadow or crunching wood beneath his feet. He looked down to see Sakura humming to herself and relaxing while the waters of the reservoir rushed. Feeling inspired to cause mischief like the way he used to as a child and the stories of Peeves the Poltergeist, Naruto silently applied the Carpe Retractum spell on his feet and to the top of the archway. And like something out of Mission Impossible, Naruto slid down the rope of his spell in total silence stopping right behind Sakura and took a deep breath and caused his head to grow comically large.

"HEY, SNOT-FACE!"

Sakura immediately shrieked in fright and jumped straight up into the air before turning livid at her blonde teammate with comically sharp teeth and giant white eyes. Naruto was now laughing without end at how much he had scared her, falling to the ground and holding his stomach.

"NARUTO! YOU JERK! You scared me half to death!" she yelled at him.

Naruto laughed hysterically, holding his stomach while he rolled from side to side like a small child, "Hahaha! Not quite yet, I haven't! Hahaha! I got you, big time! You should see the look on your face!"

Sakura then yelled at him, "What happened to when you were stoic and emo? At least you were quiet back then! What happened when you were dark and cold?"

"I guess I finally found a way to vent out my frustrations," Naruto answered back, "So instead of me bottling up my emotions for years to come and act like your little emo butt-buddy Sasuke, I decided to be a normal human being again!"

Sakura seethed at Naruto and clenched a tight fist, "Say something like that about Sasuke-kun, and I'll knock your block off, freak!"

"Whoa!" Naruto laughed, "Looks like someone can't handle a little bit of criticism. In my book, that's not the best way to get a guy to like you, no matter how messed up he is. You should really work up on that! You're supposed to be a woman, right?"

Kakashi soon appeared as he did every morning, and Sakura immediately quieted herself and stopped herself from jumping Naruto and wailing on him. He eye-smiled towards Naruto and ruffled his untidy dark-blonde hair affectionately, earning a genuine smile from him in return.

"So?" Kakashi started at observing Sakura's livid expression, "Did I miss something?"

Naruto laughed and said, "Yeah! You just missed it, Kakashi-sensei! Sakura totally fell for my Fear-Factor no Jutsu!"

"Fear-Factor no Jutsu?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow, "Is that something new?"

Sakura growled at both males and said, "This mutant freak just snuck up on me and scared the shit out of me!"

"Sakura! You watch your mouth in front of me, you understand?" Kakashi growled angrily.

The pink-haired tween looked surprised and angry at hearing this from her sensei of all people, "You're taking his side on this? WHAT THE F**K?"

Kakashi furrowed his brow and crossed his arms at Sakura for being so obnoxious and stared her down until she began to feel intimidated by how silent and calculating she watched Kakashi slowly become. She soon quieted down and regained her position of submission and lowered her head at her sensei like a misbehaved child.

"Are you done, Sakura?" he asked patiently with a low and terrifying voice.

Sakura nodded her head and said grudgingly, "Y-yes, sir."

Their teacher suddenly eye-smiled at her and said in his chipper tone of voice, "Good! So about this Fear-Factor no Jutsu of yours, Naruto, how does it work exactly?"

Kakashi dragged Naruto alongside him and the two went on to discus on how Naruto accomplishes this so-called new jutsu of his own invention. Sakura then took on a look of complete disbelief and growled and yelled to herself before following along with the rest of her team. She just couldn't believe things were now working for Naruto's way again. Seeing that so-called teenage boy teammate of hers look happy and normal again made her feel sick to her stomach.

* * *

Now that things were finally set in full motion, Team 7 was fully ready to see the other genin at the secretly arranged rendezvous point. They left their original meeting place and began walking to Training Ground Three, avoiding the crowding streets of the village for Naruto's sake. In fact, the rendezvous point of the training ground was specifically chosen also because of Naruto, seeing as he would bring about unwanted attention from the village populace. As the team walked through the streets of Konoha as swiftly as humanly possible, the civilians were alerted and excited to get a glimpse of the village wizard. People started pointing out Naruto, alerting the others out of either fear, resentment or amusement and even tried to get Naruto separated from the team to crowd around and do what they wanted with him (Take his picture, get an autograph, or punch his lights out). Some of the more aggressive haters in the crowd of people even tried to grab Naruto but were soon pushed aside as Kakashi got in their way like a bodyguard (which he sort of was) and pulled Naruto out of the crowds and retreated both him and Sakura down a more secluded street. Kakashi led his two students out through the street and led them up to the rooftops and finally got away from the mob of admirers and discriminates.

Naruto huffed, "Maybe we should have gone around through the park..."

* * *

{{_The Will by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Some time after jumping a dozen rooftops and jumping into and through the trees of the local parks, Team 7 finally reached the dirt-road path leading down to Training Ground Three. In a few minutes, they soon approached the high, titanium-metal fence surrounding the private property of the training ground and gathered around the door inside. Kakashi opened the towering gate and allowed his team to enter with him, remembering the last time him and his team were last here being when he first administered their bell-test. He thought back on that day, that their teamwork as a team would only improve from that day on.

(A/N: But oh boy was Kakashi off-course on that one, eh?)

It didn't take Team 7 that long before they spotted the four other teams eagerly awaiting for Kakashi and his remaining students to arrive. Asuma, Kurenai, and Might Guy soon saw their approaching comrade, happy that he had almost managed to show up on time for once. While they shouldn't be surprised after knowing him for so long. But they still had their expectations for him this time, seeing as it was Kakashi's idea in the first place that they should meet up like this. He was the true mastermind behind the entire program's operation and how it worked.

Their arrival soon brought about the attention of the other genin and Shikamaru (still being the only chunin ninja among them). In no time at all, they spotted their blonde friend trying to walk behind his sensei out of fear and uncommon shyness. Kiba and Lee spotted him first and jumped out of the crowd and rushed over to him eagerly. The girls of the group looked over to see their old classmate arrive and were surprised to see him wearing different clothes apart from his now destroyed Chunin Exam outfit and his signature orange and blue jumpsuit. Ino spotted Naruto by his hair and loved to see the changed look in his hair, making it look more neatly-messy rather than spiky and wild as she and everyone else was used to. Tenten spotted Naruto's change of outfit and had to say that it was perfect for it a shinobi if they had to remain inconspicuous in a civilian environment. Hinata spotted Naruto and gasped in delight, blushed, and smiled at seeing Naruto wearing his own headband in the same way she did. But she was primarily focused on spotting the look of hope in his eyes that she felt was lacking in since the last time they saw each other. Remembering the advice from the book Shino kept on reading, Hinata gathered her courage from deep within and focused on keeping it wherever it was now.

The boys in the crowd each smiled or laughed at seeing Naruto and were just as surprised at the girls when they spotted his outfit and almost didn't recognize him at first glance. Naruto looked more like a normal teenage boy then all of them combined. Most of those gathered friendly shouted from afar and waved, "Naruto! Hey!"

Everybody excitingly approached him, but before any of them could ask the blonde any of the many questions they wanted answered, their sensei's ordered them to pay attention. The genin all conveniently stood close to Naruto, while the sensei's had them gathered, in the hopes that when they finished lecturing them, they could get a chance to start talking to Naruto right away.

Once the students were gathered around their sensei's, Naruto got a good look at each of their masters, allowing him to observe their changes since he saw them last, which were far and few in between. Naruto noticed that Asuma looked slightly bigger than last time, though he couldn't tell if he had just been working out more or pigging out more with Choji. Kurenai-sensei looked paler than when he saw her last, but then again, Naruto didn't even see Kurenai all that much to begin with. To Naruto, she almost looked like a beautiful vampire you would normally read about in novels or see on television. The only truly noticeable change about her was that she was wearing a new black and red utility belt to carry extra weapons and scrolls with her on missions. Guy looked just as green and ripped as he usually did. Naruto shivered in fear at remembering the horrific time he saw him without his top on. Harry's eyes suddenly turned white and round at seeing Guy and cried comical tears of joy.

'**_EYEBROWS! You have returned to me again!_**'

Naruto rolled his eyes at hearing Harry go on and on about how magnificent and unworldly Guy-sensei's eyebrows were. He thought for sure that Harry was done with this old phase as soon as Tsunade came into the picture.

Looking around to see if everything was in order, Kakashi started the meeting, "Good morning, everyone. Today we have gathered you all here for a very important purpose."

After starting it up, Kakashi stopped and gestured to Asuma to continue from where he left off.

"Due to the fact that Team 7 is currently down one member of it's squad, they've been given fewer and fewer advanced missions and have been resorted to doing only D-Ranks with minimal teamwork-ethic."

Asuma signaled Guy to continue next. Guy then exploded with enthusiasm, causing everyone to cover their ears a little (except for Lee).

"We've decided over the course of the past month, that we should start a new mission/training program! Designed to help out with the continued village restoration effort!" He said with overly-high enthusiasm before passing the torch over to Kurenai. Once the ringing in everyone's ears had finally stopped, Kurenai cleared her throat and took it from there.

"On certain days, every week, all of us will either train together in groups or go on missions together, in which, we will mix and match the sensei's with the students and trade around for every mission, based on how good your chemistry's are with each other and your teachers. That or will we randomly roulette with the sensei's and students. This program is also designed for your futures, in which you will have to learn how to quickly adjust to working with other comrades and instructors on a very short notice. Three students will go to one of us four sensei's. But only three teams will go on missions that day, while the fourth team, which will always be incomplete, stays behind to do either a simple D-Rank mission in the village, or train here in this training ground."

Shikamaru raised his hand out of an unbroken classroom habit, "Will most of us be going on mission today, or are we all going to train, instead?"

"We'll be training today, so you guys can get reacquainted with each other again. We thought it would be best, since you guys started getting along during the Chunin Exams, that you could converse and interact with each other more often. So you all could learn and experience more together." Kakashi answered for him.

"Oh... Okay." said Shikamaru, lowering his hand.

Asuma then said, "Today, we are going to start by sparing each other. One of you will each fight another person at random. To make sure you guys don't get carried away and hurt someone too much, we will be watching and having Guy over here be the proctor of each or your fights. We don't want to have any accidents on the first day of the program, So, we'll step in if things start to get too hairy."

Everyone nodded in agreement and the first day officially started.

"ALRIGHT!" Guy suddenly yelled out and randomly pulled out a cardboard box filled with tiny pieces of paper, "YOSH! Everyone! Pull a name out of the box and see who you will fight today!"

Kakashi looked at Guy as if he were scared half to death. As did Kurenai and Asuma, seeing as they had no idea that Guy had even brought a box with hm and had just suddenly pulled it out from absolutely nowhere.

"Where the hell did he pull that box out of?" Kakashi asked.

All of the students assembled in an organized fashion and one by one withdrew a slip of paper from the box. Lee was naturally the first person to pick out a slip of paper seeing as he was the most eager to fight someone and punched his fist downright through the bottom of the box just to reach. When everyone else had picked out their own slip of signed paper, they each opened it up to reveal who they would get to spar with first, written in Guy's somewhat hard-to-read childish handwriting. Meanwhile, one of the teachers withdrew a clipboard from their weapons pouch and wrote down the names of the people to fight in a convenient order.

Kiba groaned in defeat, "Oh no, I got Naruto! Not again!"

"I got Tenten!" Ino cried out loudly.

Shikamaru sighed lazily, "How troublesome... I got you today, Choji."

"Awesome!" replied his chubby friend.

Lee suddenly jumped ten feet into the air in excitement and exclaimed in front of everyone, "NEJI! It is you and me once more! We shall emblazon the fields of this training area with the flames of our eternal youth!"

"...Oh, goody... Dreams really do come true..." Neji replied flatly.

The final persons to pick a name out of the box were Sakura and Shino. The only problem with this was that one of them would have to wait out for someone to be available to spar with. Sakura wanted to get some action so she rudely pushed Shino out of her way before she grabbed his arm from reaching for the final slip, only for her to practically rip it out of Shino's grasp. The silent bug-user turned his head towards Sakura slowly, clearly upset and insulted at being shoved asside for Sakura to beat him to the punch.

Shino said politely, "I believe that was mine, Haruno-san."

"Ugh!" she said with disgust at being talked to by Shino, "Will you just go back to being silent, you bug freak?"

Anyone that heard Sakura say that to Shino scowled at her while Kakashi groaned and face-palmed himself as his adult comrades scowled alongside their students. Being oblivious to their gathered disapproval, Sakura focused on her slip of paper and read the name Hinata Hyuga. Sakura looked over at the quiet and shy girl across the crowd and smirked almost like Sasuke, being excited to get to fight the girl that stood her up at the hospital. This fight was, to her, the perfect opportunity to get back at her.

She called out, "I got Hinata Hyuga!" and Kurenai wrote down both girls names on the same round.

Shino decided it best to either meditate with his infestation or continue to collect flying-by insects in his encased bug environment he brought with him while he waited out the fights for his turn. His partner Hinata looked very determined and headstrong when she looked towards Sakura. Said pink-haired girl returned the look back, only she added her stare of determination with the stink eye also reminiscent to her beloved Sasuke.

As soon as all of the names were written down, Guy started drawing out a very large fighting ring large enough to fit in the entire Akimichi clan, plus a couple of rhinos and elephants.

Once he was done, Guy announced, "Alright! Let's start with our first sparring match! Shikamaru vs. Choji!"

Choji and Shikamaru approached and faced each other at the center of the circle, while everyone else gave them a fair distance to watch them fight. Guy stood in between them both, once he was sure they were both ready, he lifted up his arm and kept it as still as a statue before he growled and then roared as he threw down his lifted arm as if he were about to chop right through a wooden board.

"Hajime! BEGIN!"

Guy suddenly jumped out of the way and joined the gathered onlookers. The match started with Choji when he tried using his Multi-Size Technique to grab Shikamaru with immensely enlarged hands to pin him down. But Shikamaru was able to dodge and evade his friends enormous hands. Eventually, Shikamaru hid behind a tree a short distance away in order to perform his Shadow Possession Jutsu. But Choji was not far behind and knew what his friend was planning, so he quickly inflated his body into a large sphere and violently rolled towards the tree, avoiding the path of his friend's moving shadow.

Ino in the crowd cheered Choji on enthusiastically, "Go Choji! You got this match in the bag!"

Ino never got the chance to properly cheer on Choji as positively as she was now, acting like his personal cheerleader. She felt it only fair that she would cheer him on now, seeing as she was truly letting her new resolve over her obese teammate come out and shine. Shikamaru smirked behind the tree for two reasons. First, was that Choji finally got more attention and praise from a girl for this mock fight and the second reason was that he had now controlled his stretched-out shadow to move behind him and encircle Choji. But the speed at which he manipulated his shadow was nothing compared to Choji's Human Bullet Tank. Choji destroyed the tree Shikamaru was sitting behind and was blown away over fifty feet. The next thing Shikamaru knew, Choji had pinned him down with an enlarged hand. Shikamaru tried his best to remove himself from Choji's grip, but he couldn't overpower the Akimichi heir's inhuman strength. Unable to lock his hands together and use another jutsu, Shikamaru threw in the towel.

He grunted, "I surrender!"

Guy roared loudly and lifted his arms straight up, yelling, "The victor is Choji Akimichi!"

Everybody cheered and applauded Choji for his victory, most of it was overcome by Ino who was giving an absurdly loud and supportive victory cheer for Choji as she transformed her hands into teal-blue and white pompoms, using the Henge no Jutsu.

Ino roared, "That's my big-boned man, Choji! WAY TO GO!"

Choji released his jutsu and shrunk his hands back to their normal size. He outstretched his arm and helped Shikamaru get back up on his feet and even dusted him off clean.

He said with a big smile, "That was a lot of fun, Shikamaru! You okay?"

Shikamaru smiled tiredly as he dusted off some dirt off one of his shoulders, "I'm good, Choji. I had fun, too."

* * *

Tenten and Ino faced off next.

Their fight was played out for a while. They were both at a stale mate throughout most of their match. Both girls, especially Tenten, resorted to launching shuriken at her enemy. Every throw of a weapon from either girl was met with an inevitable deflection from the other. They both put up a fairly decent fight for the next ten or so minutes. Although Ino was at a slight disadvantage to Tenten, since she trained with weapons constantly ever since she was about six. Ino wasn't as physically practiced as her opponent, but she _was_ practiced enough to endure a long fight and deliver every blow she threw.

After they both evenly spared for approximately five more minutes, they both agreed to a draw. Their individual teammates cheered them on regardless, as they both shook hands and congratulated each other.

* * *

Neji and Lee were up next on the list of those to fight. They both stared each other down once they stood across one another; Lee seemed very determined and headstrong as ever. His body was now fully restored back to perfect health and he was ready for anything to be thrown at him. Meanwhile Lee's ever so stoic teammate looked just as calm and patient as he ever did before in a fight. Neji readjusted his stitched up headband and calculated Lee carefully. Ever since his fight with Naruto, Neji learned to never underestimate an opponent, even if you've fought with them before, he resolved to ready himself for any unexpected surprise attacks, especially from his old teammate Lee.

Neji averted his gaze for a split second to look at Naruto in the crowd watching him, then quickly smiled in appreciation, hoping Naruto understood his unspoken thanks to him. Guy-sensei gave Lee his handsome-devil smile of encouragement and lifted his arm to signal his two students.

"Hajime! BEGIN!"

Lee was cautious and very evasive while Neji went in to advance first. He dodged and ducked beneath Neji's Juuken strikes. Neji had not yet activated his Byakugan, and focused on trying to hit Lee's arms in an attempt to numb him down until he surrendered. But he could not land a single blow, Lee's speed had improved so much more since his fight against Kimimaro with Gaara. Lee was trying to dodge and evade his teammates strikes and wait until he grew tired enough to retreat. Once he had resorted to retreating, Lee planned to move in with his advanced speed and strike Neji with a Leaf Whirlwind Kick.

Their fighting 'dance' continued for several minutes, neither candidate appeared to be getting any closer to giving up. Neji kept delivering every Juuken strike only to make contact with air, while Lee kept dodging at such impossible speeds it almost seemed as if the fight were sped up in fast-motion. Until finally, Neji jumped far back enough for he did start to grow more tired. Lee ground his feet into the earth and speed towards Neji, surprising him, and jumped.

Lee shouted at the top of his lungs, "_Konoha Senpu!_"

Neji was hit squarely in the chest and sent flying backward, his feet dragging in the dirt and kicking it up. It would appear at this point that Lee could actually win against him this time. But Lee had forgotten something very important that he saw happen during Naruto's past match against Neji. Therefore, he didn't know what exactly would happen when you got directly hit by the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation.

Everything froze and stood still for several seconds as Neji released a large amount of chakra from every pore in his body. Neji exerted enough chakra from his body to create a sphere big enough to send Lee flying away over twenty feet, as Neji suddenly spun around rapidly to create a giant sphere of pure chakra energy. Those who didn't witness Naruto and Neji's Final's Match before, were mesmerized at Neji's advancement in Hyuga-style combat. Even Guy was amazed at Neji's improvement ever since the Finals.

Lee was not prepared for Neji's defensive attack and was thrown back harder than expected. And when he landed on the hard and unforgiving earth, he had swirls in his eyes with dirty and sweat covered all over his face.

Guy looked a little upset that Lee did not emerge victorious as he thought, and he yelled, "The victor is Neji!"

Tenten cheered on both her teammates along with everyone else. Neji soon stepped out of his newly formed crater and walked up to Lee and offered his hand to help him up. Lee was very surprised at this gesture from his once arrogant teammate. He would never expect to see Neji of all people help him up and dirty his hands in the process. Nonetheless, Lee took Neji's out-stretched hand and was lifted back up on his feet.

Neji smiled very lightly and said, "That fight was most excellent, Lee. You were more of a challenge than you ever were before this time. You've indeed become much stronger. Be sure to keep it up if you're going to beat me one day."

Lee was very surprised.

Neji had actually recognized him as a worthy fighter. He never did that before to anyone.

Lee couldn't help but wonder to himself, '_Did Neji's match with Naruto-kun have something to do with this change?_'

The magnificent shinobi smiled and took his teammate's hand and pulled his sore body off the ground.

* * *

Next match was for Naruto verses Kiba.

Everyone was absolutely attentive at this fight in particular. Because most of the gathered crowd were very eager to see Naruto in action and witness his magical abilities in combat. Kiba in particular did not look happy to be facing Naruto with that possibility, but he hid his insecurities with a fake, cocky smile and crossed arms. But not without faltering and remembering back when he would act that way when he and Naruto were in school.

Seeing the reluctance to fight in Kiba's striking grey eyes Naruto decided he wouldn't use magic against Kiba, just to be fair. Then he would fight him with skill alone. Oddly enough, Kiba was thinking on similar grounds and reached into his jacket to put the safety back on all of his pistols he had secretly stolen out from the contraband closet in the ANBU policing station. Again. He smiled at clicking each of his newly acquired weapons and remembered back during the Chunin Exams during the invasion hen he found a rifle from the same place and stared sniping down every enemy he could see in his scopes.

When they finally approached each other Naruto and Kiba heard Sakura cheering Kiba on, much to both of their surprise and disgust.

"Go Kiba! Aim for the groin! KICK HIM IN HIS BALLS!" yelled Sakura.

It was then Hinata, Ino, Tenten, and all of their male teammates glared at Sakura angrily for showing such disrespect for her teammate and being biased against him. Even the sensei's in the training field looked angry and upset at seeing Sakura being so rude. Everyone there distinctly remembered that this was the very same girl that had cheered Naruto on so enthusiastically during his Preliminary match with Kiba a year ago.

Why the sudden change of heart?

In the fighting ring, Kiba didn't look in the least bit amused at how unsupportive Sakura was being to Naruto and didn't enjoy the attention from her at all. Kiba growled lowly and glared at Sakura, so did his hound partner Akamaru. Naruto simply ignored her rude attitude and turned the other cheek.

Naruto focused and took up a standard taijutsu stance and Kiba did the same. Only Kiba used his common Inuzuka family All Fours Jutsu stance in combination and ordered Akamaru to stand out the fight this time, much to his pup's reluctance. Akamaru also wanted to get a taste of what Naruto was truly capable of doing in a spar.

Kiba smirked confidently, "Lets make this a fair fight this time, Naruto! So no magic punches like back in the Preliminaries! You got it?"

"Okay, Kiba. You got it!" said Naruto, at seeing Kiba's high confidence.

Guy lifted up his arm and threw it down and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hajime!"

{{_Future Masters by Yoko Shimomura_}}

Kiba launched himself towards Naruto on all fours. But Naruto sped out of the way and dodged Kiba even when he slashed his arm at Naruto as he grazed by. Naruto threw several heavily dulled kunai toward Kiba, but the Inuzuka thought quickly and withdrew his own dulled kunai and deflected all of them in a single swipe.

Kiba rebuked by throwing about five practice shuriken to distract Naruto. The blonde wizard pulled out another kunai and deflected any blades he couldn't dodge, but Kiba had snuck up in front of him and punched Naruto in the chest, sending him back several feet. Thankfully the blow didn't cause Naruto to flinch or retreat inwardly in pain. He sucked it up and waited for Kiba to come towards him for another blow. When Kiba finally reached Naruto, the blonde had accumulated a large amount of chakra to his feet and disappeared at speeds faster than Lee displayed earlier during his own Preliminary match.

His fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End had apparently cleared his chakra system even more due to the intensity of the fight. Like a cleared out artery, Naruto was now better than ever and functioned much more effectively. Kakashi noticed that Naruto didn't make a move to hit Kiba yet. He appeared to be dodging and waiting for Kiba to grow tired trying to hit him. Naruto seemed to be waiting for the right time for him to hit Kiba once he slowed down enough. Then Kakashi got a very good idea for Naruto's taijutsu training. But he would divulge his revelation to Naruto later.

Naruto continued trying to evade Kiba with his newly found normal speed. Kiba soon grew slightly tired and even more frustrated everytime he failed to hit Naruto. While the blonde teen still had a lot of steam in him to drive himself to keep dodging Kiba's swipes and blows.

Kiba finally started using his environment to his advantage and tried leading Naruto against a tree. When Naruto's back met the tree and quickly realized his mistake and couldn't evade Kiba's upcoming blow aimed at his face. Naruto thought quickly and grasped Kiba's arm as it approached him and used his arm as a counter weight and evaded his body around it and had Kiba punch the bark of the tree instead of his face. Kiba's fist stung with pain and he tried rubbing out he pain that coursed through it. He got a little angry at Naruto for deceiving him like that, and made his move once again to launch himself at Naruto with all his speed.

Naruto finally took up his old habits and crossed his fingers into his signature handsign and thought, '_Kage Bushin no Jutsu!_'

Then five perfect copies of Naruto suddenly appeared in individual blasts of thick, white smoke. All of the Naruto's quickly paced themselves to run towards Kiba. They soon closed in in a tight cluster as Kiba approached. And the Naruto's slid below Kiba in a false attempt to trip him using their own bodies as leverage. Kiba flipped over the Naruto's to avoid being mauled down by them. But then the Naruto's suddenly sped themselves and encircled Kiba in a circular formation. Kiba was caught off guard from this as the Naruto's suddenly sped in a counter clockwise motion at intense speeds. Just like what he did against Sasuke, only it was much slower without the Kyuubi's chakra and magic giving him a speed boost. Soon the dust the Narutos' feet kicked up while running created a mini-vortex of dirt that got into Kiba's eyes, as well as the eyes of the crowded onlookers.

Kiba couldn't see or blink out the dirt in his eyes as he tried to be wary of Naruto's next move. Then out of nowhere, Naruto came out of the dust bowl and punched Kiba in the face. This caused him to fall backward only to be punched in the back of the head by one the clones. Naruto then unexpectedly grabbed Kiba's right arm and lifted his left leg and tied them both together with some thick metal wire he withdrew from his weapons pouch.

Kiba lost his balance and fell to the ground with an audible thud.

The crowd of teams tried their best to see what was going on inside of the large dust cloud. But they only heard grunts and fists hitting something and then a loud thud was heard followed by silence. Soon, the dust cleared up and revealed Naruto standing over a defeated and tied up Kiba.

Guy shouted out, "Naruto is the victor!"

The crowd of genin and Shikamaru cheered in applause, except for an angry and unsatisfied-looking Sakura. Naruto helped Kiba get untied quickly to save him from any further embarrassment and discard the wire strings. He then helped lift Kiba off the ground and shook his hand, being a good sport to him.

"That was awesome, Kiba! Sorry about the defeat though. You gotta work on your speed a lot more. I was trying to tire you out the whole time."

Kiba felt a little strange and enlightened getting advice on how to beat the guy that just defeated him. He would normally remain blind with anger at being defeated by anybody, but he resisted it by how fair Naruto was treating him instead of rubbing it in his face as he expected.

Kiba smirked in appreciation of Naruto good sportsmanship and shook his hand gladly, "Heh! Thanks for the advice! I'll get you next time! That fight was a little fun, I'll admit!"

They both moved back into the crowd to await the next match, Kiba throwing his arm over Naruto's shoulder.

* * *

The final match of the first round was Hinata versus Sakura. The two girls entered the dirt arena and approached each other calmly. They then looked at each other in the eyes contemptuously. Well, more negative vibes came out from Sakura than Hinata actually, seeing as it was Sakura who wanted to get back at Hinata for daring to get in her way when she was punishing Naruto for his crimes against love.

They both stared each other down almost as if they were in the center of an old wild-west movie. The wind blew up dirt and dust, their hair blew along with the wind and kicked up dirt mentioned earlier making it almost look exactly like an old western. The cliché was unnecessarily completed when an empty bag of chips (belonging to Choji) blew in the wind as neither girl averted their gaze, and stared at each other in the eye, both kunoichi were ready to fight. However, Sakura was distracted briefly once she had noticed that Hinata started to grow her hair longer and saw that it had already reached down half way to her shoulders.

Sakura then smirked (imitating Sasuke), "So," she began to say to Hinata in a voice too quiet for everyone else to hear, "you're still following in the footsteps of that freak-of-nature Naruto, huh Hyuga?"

Hinata's thin eyebrows furrowed slightly, having been angered by Sakura's harsh generalization to Naruto.

"Why are you always so cruel to him, Haruno? All he's ever done for you is do you favors and defend you when Sasuke Uchiha didn't. How can you be so horrible to him?" She asked like her father would.

Her stutter had finally disappeared after months of practicing not to stutter anymore.

Sakura's smirk had vanished into a face of harsh indifference, "I don't care if he did those things in the past. They don't even matter anymore. If Naruto would have just submitted to Sasuke-kun's superiority, then Sasuke-kun wouldn't have found the need to leave the village and hate me because of Naruto's inability to give up when he should have been smart enough to do so while he was ahead!"

Hinata insisted, "Sasuke disdained you anyway, Sakura. Your reasons for being so cruel to Naruto-kun are completely unfounded! He was nice to you and would've continued being nice to you if you hadn't humiliated him and lashed out at him in front of us all! He didn't _know_ what would happen in the time after the Chunin Exams. No one could! Who are you to say that he deserves punishment for something he had no control over!"

Sakura stuck to her hateful feelings towards her blonde teammate, still believing him to a manipulative creep, "You're so naïve. He's a liar and a cheat. He sneaked his way to get to where he is and stabbed Sasuke-kun in the back in the process. Haven't you forgotten?"

Hinata gave her an unbelieving look and said, "Are you delusional? Uchiha was the one who did the stabbing! Both figurative and literally speaking! Are you actually in love with him or just plain stupid?"

Sakura looked insulted at Hinata referring to her Sasuke as liar and a cheat, "You _dare_ say things about Sasuke-kun to me, _Hyuga_?" she said out loud.

"I guess I'm allowed to say I think that he's a spoiled and selfish brat, if that's what you mean, Sakura." Hinata said back smartly at the now furious looking pink-haired teen. All just to test how far her courage could go.

"THAT'S IT!" Sakura roared.

Guy quickly summed up that both girls were ready and quickly threw down his arm to start the fight.

"Hajime! BEGIN!"

{{_Black Garden by Yoko Shimomura_}}

Both girls launched themselves at each other. Sakura focused chakra into the soles of her sandals and sprinted at Hinata with enhanced speed. Hinata prepared herself and carefully waited for Sakura to throw the first punch. Sakura whirled her fist back and started off with a carefully aimed punch. Hinata apprehended Sakura and grabbed her arm and threw her body over herself with all the strength she could muster, causing Sakura to land on her back fifteen feet away. Sakura landed on the earth with a loud and painful thud, she quickly got back up and glared at Hinata. The Hyuga heiress gave herself enough time throwing Sakura out of the way to activate her Byakugan.

Sakura quickly redirected herself at Hinata, remembering that taijutsu alone is a bad thing to use against a member of the Hyuga clan. But she had no other options, she didn't have any ninjutsu or genjutsu advanced enough to back up her desire to fight. Not to mention that weaponry is her second and only remaining option if physical attacks fail her. When she realized this option too late, Inner Sakura was the first to acknowledge it.

Inner Sakura yelled, '**GODDAMMIT! I should have decimated her with weapons first! CHA!**'

She forced herself to sprint at Hinata while preparing herself to dodge and evade any of her Juken strikes with a quick burst of speed from her advanced chakra control. Hinata readied herself to either evade or strike Sakura, keeping herself rooted to the earth she stood on anyway as Sakura began to sprint forward. Sakura suddenly disappeared unexpectedly and reappeared right in front of Hinata and drove her fist right into her stomach. Which greatly surprised Hinata since she flew backward over thirty feet and Sakura smirked.

Everyone else in the crowd was shocked to see Sakura having so much strength to back up her mouth. Everybody thought she spent all her time daydreaming about Sasuke or shopping for girly things and putting on makeup. But apparently, they were wrong. Sakura had been training during Sasuke's absence. She must have been going to the training grounds or local gym, forcing herself to get stronger with the drive to one day become reunited with the Uchiha heir and together take down their commonly shared enemy. That thought alone could give her the strength to go on and train her tiny little behind until the day was out.

Hinata picked herself up and rubbed her now bruised stomach.

"H-how did you do that, Sakura?" she coughed out, having had the wind knocked out of her.

Sakura smiled and then giggled at Hinata, "A little combination of a well-balanced diet, good chakra control, and an intense weight lifting training session my parents helped pay for! Hehehe!"

Hinata coughed her wind back in and stood up straight with a strong and confident Juuken fighting position.

'_Okay, I have to be careful with this one… she actually has a little strength to back up that big mouth of hers… And she has a little speed to boot too… I should try breaking her down and if worse comes to worst, I'll have to used _that_ technique…_'

Sakura, being too impatient and wanting Hinata down on the ground again, rushed towards her with a chakra speed boost. Hinata stood her ground strongly, and readied herself to strike or evade again. Her Byakugan saw her enemy get ready to withdraw a weapon from her pouch as she sped at her with top speeds equivalent to that of Naruto's or even Sasuke's from the battle at the Valley of the End.

'_Right! Hold your ground, girl! Block and then strike…'_ Hinata realized, drawing out a kunai of her own.

But when Sakura reached close to her, she actually tricked Hinata, dodged her Juuken strike and slammed her chakra powered fist into Hinata's side. Causing the girl to fly ten feet on the side opposite from where she was punched.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled out of concern.

Everyone else was in shock at the events that unfolded in front of them. Sakura laughed at how impressively weak her opponent turned out to be. She really wasn't expecting too much of her, seeing as she had failed to defeat Neji.

"Wow! _I _actually have more backbone than _you_, Hyuga!" she laughed with a level of sweetness that made several people who heard it want to puke.

This caused Naruto to start seething at Sakura for taunting Hinata in a way that reminded him of Neji's past treatment of her. This caused Naruto and yell out and throw some inspirational words for Hinata just as he had done before.

"Forget about her, Hinata! You're a strong kunoichi! Who is she to tell you what you're made of?"

Hinata looked towards Naruto's direction. She saw how he only had eyes for her at this moment once more, just like before in the Chunin Exams. His encouraging words effected her as they did before, as if they were laced with his magical powers. She soon felt the physical pain in her side disappear at once and found a great jump of strength to get up off her side and stand strong once more. Sakura didn't expect for Hinata to get up so quickly, not to mention that she was momentarily distracted by Naruto's obnoxious voice and turned around briefly to glare at him.

"Take this, Pinky!" Hinata shouted.

Hinata had driven herself to run at Sakura and focused chakra into her hands and tensed her muscles just before she drove a strike into Sakura's stomach with full force. Sakura doubled over, having the wind being knocked out of her, as Hinata struck her fingers into the chakra points on her arms and shoulders. Sakura grunted painfully with every strike Hinata threw at her without mercy. When Sakura's chakra points were pressed, it felt as if her skin was briefly pressed by a burning hot metal poking stick at every point Hinata struck with her fingers.

Sakura tried to suck up the pain and after several unsuccessful attempts to rebuke against Hinata's relentless attacks, did she finally throw her arm out and painfully block one of Hinata's Juuken strikes. Sakura had then managed to punch her hard in the face. Hinata's head was forcibly turned to the side at the force of the punch, which caused her to spit out some blood, but it wasn't enough to even come close to bringing her down. Sakura continued with two more separate punches to Hinata's naturally pale face. She ignored these painful fists to the face and she started to strike Sakura with normal Juken hits to her arms and successfully numbed out Sakura's arms until she could no longer lift them up to throw another punch.

"This is for Naruto-kun, you bitch…" Hinata said too quiet for everyone else but Sakura to hear, but said it with the voice of a fierce and powerful female warrior.

Hinata sprint forward and threw a normal punch to Sakura's stomach, causing her to fly backward over five feet and landed on her back. When she landed, Sakura's eyes were in swirls and Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi rushed to Sakura's aid and checked over her. She didn't have any internal injuries or any major injuries that should be of any concern. All she had were most of her chakra points pressed and a bunch of sore and numbed out muscles. Had Hiashi been there to see his daughter fighting today, he would be proud to call Hinata his daughter.

Hinata stood up straight when Guy announced, "Hinata is the winner!"

Everyone in the crowd was in absolute shock at the fight they had witnessed. Hinata Hyuga had turned into a badass. Naruto looked at Hinata proudly and also in admiration as she walked back over to the crowd of genin. Hinata had displayed so much raw power and courage when she was facing off his teammate. He couldn't help but admire her for her accomplishment.

Hinata had to rest herself down, holding her bruised stomach when Naruto ran up to her at seeing her hunched over her chest and became worried.

"Hey, Hinata-chan! Are you okay?" Naruto asked in genuine concern.

Hinata smiled as she sat down on the ground against a rock very close by, as happy as can be at the fact that Naruto was concerning over her well-being.

She said back kindly, "I-I'm fine Naruto-kun. But you should really be worried about Sakura. I-I think I might've taken it a bit too far with her…"

Naruto did feel that getting your ass handed to you, even if you were a jerk, you deserve to be checked up on. He didn't want to be a total dick and not care about her, she was still his of pity, Naruto reluctantly left Hinata's side to check on Sakura. He approached where Kurenai was bandaging her up right next to Kakashi close by the drawn out battle-circle. He stopped to see her sitting down against one of the three log posts. She looked fine except for a few bruises on her arms and a small cut on her lip. She was breathing fine, since Hinata didn't harm any internal organs or anything severe. She was just exhausted piled on with a good ass-kicking.

"Hey, Sakura. You okay?" Naruto asked with very little concern, seeing as she wasn't on her deathbed.

Sakura just grunted and scoffed at her teammates question and said grudgingly, "I'm fine, baka. Go away."

Naruto frowned at Sakura, seeing as she didn't care that her only teammate was still holding onto something that could be related to a friendship, "Well, either way I'm glad you're still breathing."

Kakashi appreciated that Naruto had the decency to check up on his teammate, and ruffled his hair as a silent way of showing appreciation, much to the blonde's enjoyment. He loved it when people did that to him.

"Well, now that I know that you're fine, I'm gonna check on Hinata-chan. Later!" Naruto said simply.

Sakura looked back at Naruto with a blank look, seeing him run up to and start talking to Hinata and congratulated her. But then she noticed a parcel hidden he had in his jacket and saw that he had flowers hidden in his confines. She completely forgot about the numbness and pain in her arms and adopted a more contemptuous look towards her teammate when she saw him try tucking them away deeper in his jacket and out of sight. She then seethed at both him and Hinata when she saw them both blush while they talked to each other and praised one another for their fighting efforts.

(A/N: I'm not going be totally relentless to Sakura. She's not going to be incredibly useless. If she can punch Naruto across a street in Part 1, then surely she should not be totally useless. She's going to be a force worth reckoning with.)

* * *

The sensei's had a pretty long discussion for a while. Wondering if a sparing match day was a little bit dangerous to start off their grouped sessions, given the amount of violence that broke out between Hinata and Sakura. They decided that maybe tomorrow they should start on missions again or simply train a little bit more safely tomorrow. They would discuss this matter over lunch in a few minutes, but eating and talking would have to wait. Because it was Shino's turn to have a match. He had left the area to gather more insects for his collection and had finally returned, covered with dirt and a little bit of sweat.

But after they offered the fight to him, Shino replied, "I do not wish to fight."

Everybody blanched in response and sweat-dropped in response. No one really had any grasp as to why Shino did not wish to fight when a few minutes before he looked pissed off when Sakura stole his chance to have a fight of his own.

"Why, Shino?" asked Kurenai.

"Well…" Shino gestured toward everyone else, who was either tired, laying down, or tending to a wound, "I don't think another fight will do my friends that much good…"

Kakashi looked at him strangely before deciding, "Yes. Well-I think that, uh, just about wraps things up for now. Seeing as we're not doing anything besides hanging out with one another, you kids are basically free to hang out. It's good for you kids to get out act like you're human for a day. Enjoy yourselves! Besides, me and your other teachers have things to discuss. So, bye-bye!" he winked.

Everyone got up from the ground and left once they had rested enough from their matches. And finally, once the students were leaving the gates of Training Ground Three, the genin finally obtained their chance to have their questions answered. They soon gathered around Naruto down the middle of the road, giving him enough room to breath at least. Naruto looked at his fellow classmates very nervously and gulped down what he thought was going to be vomit in a few moments.

"W-what is it?" he asked in stutter.

Tenten spoke out first, "Is it really true?"

"Is what true?"

"Is it really true that you're a real-live wizard?" asked Kiba excitedly.

Naruto looked very nervous and tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, "Well, I... Er... Yes... I am one..."

Everyone look positively breathless at this news. They took it all in and examined Naruto carefully, as if to see something they never saw about him before that was dramatically different. But they failed to see the change or see Naruto suddenly form a black cloak or pointed hay with planets on it appear out of nowhere or spot any sight of a magic wand or black cat to follow him around every step. With nothing changed before their eyes, they still had their questions.

Ino asked first, careful so as not to pressure Naruto too much, "Can you prove it to us? Can you, like, perform a small spell for us. I mean we can't just take your word for it now, can we?"

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little bit better at the thought of receiving positive attention. He felt for sure when he woke up this morning that his friends were going to persecute him or treat him harshly with knowing half of what he truly was. But at seeing the smiles and enthusiastic faces of his old classmates, he felt better and more confident. A feeling in his stomach told him that they were more amazed than scared at seeing something as supernatural as magic.

Naruto felt obliged and decided to do it for them at last, "Alright, then. But first I gotta show you guys something first."

The teen reached into his coat and rummaged through, looking for something apart from the flowers he kept trying to hide. Everyone stared intently as Naruto began to slowly withdraw his old wand.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a wand. It's an instrument that allows a wizard to conduct and control his or her magic and create spells, charms, jinxes, and curses. Almost every wizard and witch in history has used one. I made it myself!"

His wand looked very ordinary and didn't appear to be perfectly black with a yellow star on the end of it as the others had imagined. It was dark and light brown in color and was shaped in a relatively straight, if not, perfectly straight wooden stick. The end he was holding, seemed to shape into a rough, graspable handle and comprised of a dark brown color. While the shaft of the wand appeared to have a lighter shade of brown than the handle.

"Here is any example of one of the first charms I ever learned."

Naruto walked out of the crowd and to look for something to cast a spell on. He aimed his wand at a nearby large rock by some trees, swished and flicked his wand.

He annunciated, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Without any warning for the genin and Shikamaru, the rock hovered high above the ground and followed the movements of his wand exactly. Everyone gasped in awe at the wonder of what they were witnessing.

"I first learned to do this charm when I was about seven years old. It was one of the very first charm I ever learned." Naruto explained.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto strangely, "Who taught you how to do this? I heard my dad mention something about some psychic teacher/older brother of yours taught you. Care to elaborate?"

Soon everybody looked at Naruto in questioning, wondering who in the world Naruto's master was. Said magical apprentice sighed as he dropped the spell and dropped the boulder in the process. He put his wand in his pocket and cleared his throat to get ready to explain to his classmates the origin of his kind.

* * *

He quickly summed up the important details of the wizarding world and how his older brother Harry came into existence and taught him the ways of magic and sorcery. But no matter how much of the story he told them, he did not divulge any information in regards to the Kyuubi being inside of his body. Fearing that his friends might turn on him if they knew he was currently containing the most powerful destructive force on the planet. He could only hope that Sakura's parents didn't break the Sandaime Hokage's decree and told their daughter their true reasons for hating him, not that he would be surprised if they didn't tell her already. Because if she knew, she would pop up the fact right then and there.

For the next half-hour, Naruto went on and told his classmates (almost) everything there was to know about him and by the end of it, Naruto's throat felt tired and slightly from talking non-stop like his motormouth mother.

Once it was over, the classmates all understood the story a lot more now. It was much better explained coming from Naruto himself rather than the confused and mixed-up versions they each got from their parents. While they were generally the same story told, with the exception of Sakura's parent's version, it all seemed so clear as if it were a summary of a book on a website.

Kiba was the first to speak after five minutes of awkward silence, "That's freaking AWESOME!"

"Huh?" Naruto said in confusion, "Personally it's a little creepy, don't you think? I thought I would come here today only to be scorned or hated by you guys for what I am. I thought you guys would see me as some-as some kind of freak."

Everybody except for Sakura in the back of the crowd shrugged. Ino stood forward and asked, "Don't you think _I'm_ creepy for entering people's minds when I want to?"

Shino asked, "Don't you think it's weird that my body is infested with insects?"

With that said by the heir of the Aburame clan those that were standing close by Shino and didn't know the details of his clan's unique biological traits backed away from him a few steps.

"Don't you think I'm a creep for controlling shadows at will?" asked Shikamaru.

Neji asked, "Hinata-sama and I basically have x-ray vision Don't you think we're strange for that?"

"Don't you feel weird that I can expand my body to be the size of a giant?" said Choji.

Kiba said, while Akamaru barked to back him up, "I can talk to dogs. That strange enough for ya?"

"And I'm a freaky weapons chick. Plus, Lee here does nothing else with his life but train day in and day out. Weirdo! Hello!" Tenten said with sympathy while patted Lee's shoulder to be nice.

Hearing all of them say these things, Naruto couldn't help but feel better with every word they said. He didn't even think to realize it before but his classmates, they were just as strange and unusual as he was. He always kept on thinking that he was the alienated one for having magical blood flow through his veins while everyone else had chakra or a kekkei genkai.

Shikamaru, being the smartest of the group, spoke up for everyone else, "We don't feel weird around you at all. You gotta understand that just because you're different, doesn't make you out to be the bad guy."

Naruto felt a small lump in his throat begin to form up and begin to expand with every word these people spoke to him.

"It's honestly okay, Naruto-kun. We don't think you're a freak or weird o-or anything." Hinata ensured.

Naruto looked at her with very watery eyes, threatening to be released and overflow with rivers of tears. Shikamaru stepped forward out of everyone else in the group and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder upon seeing the tears that were about to fall, showing more of his sympathetic and human side more than he did with any of his own family, "We don't think you're a freak, Naruto. Because in all honesty, we are all freaks here in our own village. One way or another…We're your friends, Naruto…"

Everybody except for Sakura nodded or smiled in agreement. Letting Naruto know that he wasn't alone. Naruto could hardly even speak, trying his best to hold back the tears that were trying to make their way out of his eyes.

"Y-you guys really mean that?" he tried to ask without letting loose his tears.

Out of all the responses everyone threw back at him the phrases "Of course!" and "Hell yeah, dude!" were many of the honest and more frequent ones. Naruto tried to fake-sneeze to wipe out the tears in his eyes and as soon as he was sure he had wiped them all away from his face and eyes, Naruto looked back up at them and smiled at his friends.

"I don't."

Everybody looked at Sakura contemptuously, for not giving Naruto a single chance to feel welcomed. They all summed up that they should just ignore her and not let her ruin such a good thing for their clearly troubled friend.

"_Most_ of us here accept you for who you really are, Naruto. Let's just leave it at that." Ino said with enthusiastic reassurance.

Naruto still felt so enlightened and relieved at his friends' responses to his obvious abnormality. He honestly never expected when he woke up this morning that all or any of these good people would be so open-minded and accepting. He sniffed a little bit and then said, "Thank you. Thank you all…"

The rest of his friends smiled along with him, feeling better about themselves for cheering up their previously depressed friend.

Kiba then spoke out with the greatest enthusiasm, "Enough of this soup opera crap! Let's go eat! It's lunchin' time according to my stomach! Let's get some ice cream!"

Now that Kiba had mentioned it, they all realized that it was well-passed mid-day and everybody only now just realized that they were hungry.

"Okay!" Ino announced, "Lunch is on me! Thankfully, before I left my house this morning I took my dad's credit card!"

Ino reached deep into her weapons pouch and pulled out a small platinum plastic card and flashed it for everyone to see and open their eyes greedily to the possibilities laid out before them.

"Alright!" everybody said together in unison

They all walked together back down the forest path that led to the village, eager to get into town and head for the first and most expensive eating place they could find first. However, Sakura did so reluctantly, wishing to meet up with her other friends for lunch instead. She didn't want to waste any of her time with any of these neanderthal freaks and geeks.

Naruto stopped and said upon realization, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Hinata! Hold on a sec."

Hinata stopped while everyone else walked on ahead, before stopping as well. Naruto held his hands together behind his back in nervousness and began to blush dark-pink.

"Hey, Hinata?" Naruto asked for Hinata's attention.

Naruto soon focused on what he wanted to do and pulled out his wand from his pocket and then said, "Let's see if I remember the charm to do this… Um…Oh yes! _Orchideous!_"

Suddenly, a flash of sky blue light erupted from Naruto's wand and a loud band rang out from the flash. Once it cleared, the lilies that Naruto had gotten from Harumi-san last week appeared in his hand in a lovely wisp. Naruto blushed even more as he held them out and gave them to a wide-eyed Hinata.

"I-I, uh... I wanted to give you these, Hinata. A-as, you know, thanks for what you did for me at the hospital if you remember…"

Hinata had never seen a flower specimen as lovely as the one Naruto gave to her. She slowly took them from his hand, unbelieving that the boy that she had been secretly crushing on for years had actually given her beautiful flowers.

Naruto kindly pointed out, "There's also some seeds in the tiny pouch there, see? That way, you can plant more of the flowers yourself in a garden if you like..."

"Oh! N-Naruto-kun!" she breathed so happily. She sniffed the flower's, taking in the intoxicatingly sweet scent they gave off.

The other genin sighed at witnessing something so sweet. Particularly, the girls of the group while the boys rolled their eyes and made silent fake-gagging sounds and gestures. The only person that didn't find this sweet scene between the boy and girl to be either a joke or cute was no one other than Sakura Haruno. She actually looked very enraged by this truly kind gesture.

Sakura thought to herself lividly, '_WHAT? He just goes off after the next innocent girl he sees! Just to hurt her feelings in the end, too!_'

Inner Sakura managed to get a word in by yelling at the top of her inner lungs, '**Naruto is a man-whore! CHA!**'

Sakura stomped her way loudly over to Naruto, similar to the way she approached him at the end their friendship at the hospital. Seeing Naruto going on and about to check out the next girl in line made her blind with pure rage.

"What are you doing?" she shouted at Naruto.

Naruto and Hinata, along with everyone else turned to look at her with surprise and irritance.

"What now?" Hinata asked angrily, upset that she would interrupt something so sweet.

Sakura snapped at Naruto, "First, you chase after me all these years, and then you just go after the next girl that so much as _talks _to you? _YOU'RE A COMPLETE WHORE!_" she yelled, slapping him across the face and turning his cheek raw-red.

Everyone gasped in outrage. Ino was about to move forward to teach her old friend one hell of a lesson. But then everyone froze at the sudden look Naruto threw at Sakura. His eyes had turned sharp as they did back during the Chunin Exam Saga. His pupils had turned as small as the point of a sharpened pencil while the blue color in his eyes turned slightly green for a split second before turning back to normal. Naruto leaked out from his inner being an ounce of killer-intent and let Sakura among several others to fall victim to it inadvertently. Naruto then shook his right arm and let his wand fall right out of his sleeve and into his hand. Naruto rubbed his red cheek with his left hand and continued to glare at Sakura with the nastiest look he had ever given to a girl apart from Temari of the Suna Siblings and Tayuya of the Sound Four.

"I've had enough of you, Haruno... You've hurt me for the last time...!" Naruto thundered at his so-called teammate.

Naruto pointed his wand directly at Sakura's chest and yelled, "_Petrificus Totalus!_"

A blue jet of bright light shot right out of Naruto's wand and struck Sakura directly at her chest with a surprise of shock and horror stuck on her pale-white face. At once, Sakura's arms snapped to her sides. Her legs sprang together. Her entire body turned rigid, and she swayed where she stood and then she fell flat on her face, stiff as a board and completely unmoving. Everybody in the crowd gasped at what they saw Naruto do to her.

"Holy shit! Did you kill her?" Kiba asked with hope in his voice.

"No," Naruto reassured them, "It's called a Full Body-Bind curse. Haruno is now completely frozen from head to toe, but she is still completely conscience and can hear everything we are saying. Look."

Naruto flipped Sakura's body using only his foot, and sure enough she still remained as stiff as a board and looked as if she were a plastic model of her former self. Sakura had on her face a forcibly frozen look of shock and terror. Her jaws were jammed together so she couldn't speak. Only her eyes were moving, looking at Naruto with anger and hatred.

"See? She's perfectly alright. I just wanted to teach her what happens when you mess with the lion." Naruto said with a tiny growl.

With that said, everybody looked at Naruto with a sense of respect, particularly from Kiba.

Naruto smiled, "The curse will wear off in about one, two, maybe three hours or so. For now, let's go to lunch, guys."

Shikamaru smirked, "I'm down with that. You guys?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and decided to leave Sakura behind as payback from all her bull-crap that they took from her today. As they walked away, one or two people looked back at Sakura's motionless body and then back to Naruto in disbelief that he had actually done that to her. All the while, Naruto whistled to himself and twirled his wand in between his fingers, thinking about what flavor of ice cream he would be having.

"Y'know, Naruto, you're kinda scary sometimes," Kiba began to say, "You're brilliant, but scary…"

Naruto looked over towards Kiba and said as they walked, "They don't call me _wicked_ for nothing, Kiba."

Naruto laughed a little as he walked to have lunch with his friends. Hinata walking by his side and enjoying the magnificent flowers that Naruto had gifted to her.

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

**And that's Chapter 9. I've had writers block for a while now, so it took me a lot longer to write this than I first anticipated. I really hope I lived up to your expectations, but if there's anything wrong about this chapter that you guys would like me to change, let me know in your comments. Because I'll change anything that I see fit if you would like me to. **

**I'm going to take a week off from writing. A week of writers block is kind of a sign that you should take a break, really.**

**But I'll come back in a week with some fresh new ideas, maybe a few OC friends for Sakura and future Sasuke. If you guys have any ideas for possible villain friends for those dastardly teammates, let me know!**

**As for my fight with Azeroth44, I believe we finally called a truce.**

**Azeroth44: You burned my entire arm, you bastard!**

**Kvsyaoran: Oh, will you let it go already?**

**Azeroth44: (Sigh) Fine. But you're paying for my hospital bills!**

**Kvsyaoran: Until you pay for my fractured skull!**

**Azeroth44: Okay. Fine. Just let me get out my wallet. (goes through pockets) HEY! Where's my wallet?**

**Naruto: Heheheh! All mine!**

**Azeroth44: Give me back my cash!**

**Naruto: NEVER!**

**That's all for now folks! I'll be back before you know it!**

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**Review, please. I'll get psyched to see some when I get back!**


	10. Dangerous Missions

**Alright! I am back from vacation everybody! The Delaware shore was AWESOME! The house I stayed in was right next to the beach and 5 minutes from downtown. I loved it! But all things must come to an end, I guess. So I have returned with a new chapter of the Dark Path of Shinobi!**

**Azeroth44: So did you bring anything back from Delaware?**

**Kvsyaoran: As a matter of fact, I did! (Pulls out something from the Magical Bag of Spoils) TA-TA-TA-DA!**

**Azeroth44: You bought a freaking slingshot?**

**Kvsyaoran: Hell yeah, I did!**

**Azeroth44: What are we gonna do with it, dude?**

**Kvsyaoran: Lets launch stuff at oncoming traffic!**

**Naruto: HEY! Aren't you guys forgetting something?**

**Azeroth44: Oh yeah…**

**Kvsyaoran: The story. My bad. That must come first.**

**Naruto (But suddenly wearing ridiculously huge sunglasses): I'm usually not one to impose on an act of anti-establishment or vandalism, but we promised these loyal readers a story. Let's start the show AND THEN use that slingshot.**

**Kvsyaoran: Say Naruto, wear did you get those sunglasses?**

**Naruto: I-HAVE-NO IDEA! **

**Kvsyaoran: Okay then, let's get started Tom.**

**Azeroth44: My name's Azeroth44.**

**Kvsyaoran (Smiling): I DON'T CARE!**

**

* * *

**

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'Blah' : Naruto's Thoughts

'_**Blah' **_or _'Blah' _: Harry talking to Naruto/other people's thoughts

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

**

* * *

**

Two Weeks Later…

Things were finally starting to go his way. Naruto and his friends started to hang out more often. Spending whatever time they were not training or completing missions, simply hanging out in town.

Naruto had feared that he would receive a grand amount of unwanted attention from everyone in the village. He was only half-correct. The villagers started to treat Naruto as some kind of celebrity that was being relentlessly bothered. They tried to get his picture or autograph and annoy him any chance they saw him in public.

Naruto knew exactly what they were trying to do to him. Run him out of town in a positive way.

The villagers had really become more elaborate with their Anti-Naruto movements.

But thankfully, Naruto had his friends to defend him and hide him from view of the paparazzi. Naruto even remembered Kiba pulling out Nunchucks and yelling at the crowd of bothersome on lookers,

"BACK! STAY BACK, SAVAGES!"

Along with the other half of his theory of public opinion, Naruto soon discovered that almost the entire ninja population supported him and treated him as some kind of an honorable hero. Many random ninja Naruto didn't even know, usually gave him thumbs up, pats on the back, or other random gestures of approval.

All in all, the attention Naruto received from the village, in total, was almost perfectly balanced out.

He wasn't quite sure how to feel about this change of environment. He did feel pretty enlightened for he finally received a fraction of the praise and approval he desired for his entire life. But he never expected that this praise would come so early on in his life. He expected this sort of attention to come to him when he was much older. Not to mention that he wished he could earn this approval through hard work and earn it his own way. Not receive it through a court case where everyone would do the fighting for you. All in all, Naruto decided he should feel lucky that the absolute worst things did not happen. He would rather have what he did have, instead of being scorned and feared in the ways his nightmares played out all his life.

Either way, life was getting just a little bit sweeter for Naruto Uzumaki and his friends.

* * *

Tuesday, 8:30 am

Naruto got dressed into a pair of navy-blue cargo pants, a green t-shirt, and another shirt that was in plaid shades of gray and white. And quickly strapped on his gear and pocketed his wand. Naruto then Apparated to the large courtyard just outside of the Hokage Tower. The sensei's decided that it would be the meeting place for all of the teams for the time being.

Naruto was the first to arrive, followed by Team Guy, Sakura, and Team's 10 and 8. Kakashi was the last to arrive a full hour later. They all gathered around and awaited for the team's selections.

Guy stood up above all the other adults and pulled out his mysterious cardboard box of names.

"Here we go! YOSH!" Guy exclaimed.

He quickly pulled out one of the teachers names and had selected: "ASUMA!"

Guy whipped out three other random names and had picked: "CHOJI! INO! SHIKAMARU!"

Everyone looked a bit skeptical for a second. Amazed that Guy had chosen a team that had no alterations made to it.

"YOSH! What a pick!" yelled the crazy Taijutsu Master enthusiastically.

He then selected the next teacher, "KURENAI!"

And then picked out her three students for the day, "SHINO! HINATA! NARUTO!"

Naruto and Hinata looked ecstatic at the choice of the team. Both of them were very happy to be placed on the same team this time. Ever since Naruto gifted the lilies to Hinata, they have both been talking to each other gradually more often as the past two weeks flew by. Kakashi on the other hand, looked a bit sad, and hung his head down in disappointment. He didn't get Naruto for a single mission these past two weeks.

Guy continued and pulled out a new name out of the box, "MYSELF!"

He pulled out three names and said, "LEE! KIBA! SAKURA!"

Sakura moaned inconspicuously, not wishing to be placed on the same team with two world-class weirdo's. Kiba and Lee didn't exactly look happy to be put on a teen with the pink-haired banshee. But they were both happy that they might both be trained by Guy-sensei.

"Neji and Tenten are still without a teacher." Guy indicated towards the two lone Genin in the corner of the crowd, "The sensei's and I will determine which one of us will stay behind and train their assigned members along with these two."

Asuma asked, "How are we going to decide this?"

The teachers all gathered around themselves and Kakashi said casually, "I have an idea that is both fair and just…"

The other teachers looked at Kakashi with interest. While Guy looked at his eternal rival with fiery enthusiasm.

"What will it be, Kakashi?" Guy announced, "Will we all have a race around the village to determine the loser? Or will it be a test of strength? An eating contest? Or a weight lifting contest?"

Guy looked determined to create a contest out of the small reason he could imagine.

Kakashi held out a fist and said coolly, "Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"WHAAAAAA?" Guy slack-jawed predictably.

The other jounin nodded and all said, "M'kay."

Disappointed that there would be no epic contest amongst the fellow jounin, Guy joined Kakashi's small contest of Rock Paper Scissors. But he tried to make it as epic as he could by waving and swinging his arms as dramatically as possible.

In the end, Guy lost the contest and would be taking a team consisting of Kiba, Sakura, and Lee today. He would not be enjoying himself and giving some students a good old fashion style training day (AKA: Torture). But at least he would be with his pupil Lee.

He then stood up tall and swore that he would beat Kakashi ten-fold in RPS.

As the jounin and Genin departed with Guy and his students at a distance away, Asuma leaned towards Kakashi and asked, "Does he do this competition thing with you often?"

Kakashi gave him an ugly look and said, "You have no _**freaking**_ idea."

Naruto laughed and Kakashi flicked him on top of his head.

Guy, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai all left with their individual students and climbed up the stairs to the Sandaime Hokage's office.

Sarutobi appeared to be fiddling around with some strange and small silver instrument on his oak desk. He quickly replaced it with a paper weight and properly posed himself for his audience of loyal ninja.

"Good morning everyone." He greeted with a small smile, "Now lets get down to business. What is the game plan today?"

Asuma said, "Guy will be stepping out to train several of the Genin today. That leaves myself, Kurenai, and Kakashi to lead the handful of students here."

Sarutobi nodded in understanding and took a puff from his pipe, "Very well. Will you care to tell me which sensei has which students?" the old man asked.

Kakashi stood forward, "I'm leading these students here today to train." he indicated to Neji and Tenten.

Kurenai spoke up next, "I will taking Hinata, Shino, and Naruto on a mission today."

Asuma then said, "I got lucky this time. I got my old team this time."

Guy then spoke out a little softer this time, in respect for his boss, "And I have Sakura, Lee, and Kiba with me today."

Sarutobi looked over the several piles of paper the had been lined over his desk since this morning. All of the papers inquired missions ranging from A to D-Rank missions. He selected 4 C-Rank mission papers and read them out loud.

"Team Guy," the Hokage said, grasping their attention, "Your assignment is a C-Rank mission. Your job is to hunt down and destroy a large number of wild Boar-q-pine pigs in a small town 10 miles east of the village. The boar population has become too numerous and several boars have killed and injured several of it's citizens."

Sarutobi handed the paper to Guy and read over the details quickly.

Kiba looked very excited at the thought of hunting down wild pigs. Lee was not very happy at the idea of killing wild animals but understood that if they didn't destroy them, more innocent people could die. Sakura looked pretty determined at the mission. Seeing it as another opportunity to train herself before her parents training arrangement was determined.

Guy bowed to the Hokage and said, "Very well, Hokage-sama! Team! We are off!"

And he left the Hokage's office with his assigned students.

Sarutobi picked up another slip of paper with information on another C-Rank assignment. He read aloud to Asuma and his students, "Asuma, your mission will also be C-Rank. Your team's job is to escort and protect an elderly villager on his way to the North-Eastern province to visit family."

He handed over the mission form to his son and read over the details of their client. He _was_ elderly and required the use of a horse-drawn cart to accomplish his travels. His team would have to tend to his horse if it grew tired and guard him around the clock. For their client feared for his life and was willing to pay for the protection.

Asuma sighed and puffed on his cigarette, "Understood, dad."

Sarutobi looked a little agitated, "That's _Hokage-sama_, to you." he scolded.

Asuma turned towards his team and said, "Let's head out!"

Once gone, Sarutobi opened a scroll, searching for a specific mission to assign. When he finally found one he was looking for, he said, "Kakashi, instead of simply training the two students you have today, I will instead assign you on a simple C-Rank as well."

Kakashi looked a little bit surprised, as did Neji and Tenten.

"You will be assigned on an investigation mission. A simple surveillance. Nothing too serious. All you and your team will need to do is investigate a possible rebellion rumored to be forming in a town just south of here… Ever since our little misunderstanding with Suna in the invasion several months ago, we don't want to overlook any small threat or any possible unwanted uprising."

Kakashi, Tenten, and Neji all turned a little bit serious if they weren't already.

"Just accomplish a simply investigation on the village. If there is any sign of a possibly hostile rebellion, then see to it that it is stopped."

Kakashi received the form and read it over several time to memorize it. After he was done he took the form and his team along with it.

Sarutobi then smiled when he glanced at the familiar face of his adopted grandson smiling anxiously.

"Then that leaves Kurenai and her students." He pulled out the final form and said aloud, "Your team's assignment will be a packaged good delivery. Several highly valuable goods need to be delivered to the sea port just east of here. They are going to be shipped to the Land of Waves next week, but they need to be hand-delivered to the merchants who are in need of it before their departure date."

Kurenai read over their assignment form and memorized it.

"Reminder; the goods are said to be highly valuable and must not be tampered with. So there might be a possible threat of thieves who are more than willing to kill for something as valuable as your baggage is said to be. See to it that the valuables are unharmed." he informed strictly.

Kurenai and her students for the day all bowed in respect of their boss, while Naruto waved to him in a friendly way and said, "See you later, Grandpa!"

Sarutobi would have normally growled in anger for being reminded of his age, but instead he puffed some smoke from his pipe, smiled, and waved back to the boy he loved as a grandson.

"He's doing so much better these days." he chuckled to himself.

* * *

Naruto ran back home quickly to grab his backpack full of survival supplies and extra ninja gear he did not have strapped onto him already.

Naruto checked over all of his things and went through everything he had in his pack three times, in order to make sure he didn't forget anything.

'_**Relax, Naruto.' **_Harry said casually, _**'It's not like your going on vacation. It's a mission that probably will take you until the end of the day…'**_

Naruto hunched his pack over his shoulders and thought, _'But Harry, Grandpa said that we're heading for the east coast of the country! That could take two whole days just to get there!'_

Naruto opened the door to his apartment again and locked it once more with the Colloportus spell.

* * *

When Naruto arrived at the village gate, via Apparation, he saw that Shino and Hinata were talking while they waited for Naruto and Kurenai-sensei to arrive.

"Hey! Hinata!" Naruto waved over to his friend.

Hinata said something to Shino in a sort of hushing motion with her hands before she smiled at Naruto as kindly as she always has.

"H-hello, Naruto!" she greeted once again, "So are you excited about this mission or what?" she said with subtle enthusiasm. She tried to resisted squealing out in joy at the fact that Naruto was finally her partner on a mission.

"Oh yeah! But didn't Grandpa Hokage say that we had to deliver packages or something? If so where are the packages?" the blond asked.

Before Hinata could answer him, Kurenai-sensei had just arrived and answered for her, looking just as ready as her students were.

"The valuables were are delivering are in a depository in the next town just east of here. Which conveniently is set on our way to the coastal town." she informed, "We just have to stop at this town first, pick up the goods, and then be on our way." she smiled.

All of her students nodded in understand and they all sped out of the village at top speeds. Naruto occasionally looked back at the steadily shrinking village. Mentally noting that the last time he left his home like this, he was leaving to capture Sasuke.

* * *

_Wayside by Yuki Kajiura_

Team Kurenai leapt through the trees with the Genjutsu Mistress in the lead, while her three students followed in tow. They had been zooming through branches and trees for almost two hours, and it was only now did most of them begin to feel tired. They decided to stop and rest when the almost sped across a small river.

Everyone dropped their individual baggage and sat down to rest and drink some water. Naruto slumped onto the bass of a thick oak tree and drank a little bit of water from his canteen. Shino walked over to Kurenai sensei to ask where they were on the map.

Kurenai pulled out a pocket map she kept folded in her weapons pouch and tried to analyze where they were and how much further away was the town they had to stop.

Meanwhile, Hinata walked over to the river to refill her canteen. Naruto noticed this and decided to talk to his friend out of boredom.

"Say, Hinata?" he asked, grasping her attention.

She stood back up from the clear source of water and let him know he had her attention, "Yeah?"

"So what are you doing refilling your canteen?" he asked randomly.

She looked puzzled and then answered, "I forgot to fill it up when I stopped by my house earlier."

Naruto looked a bit puzzled as well, "How does it taste?" he asked.

Hinata shrugged and then took a small swig of the river water and soon spat it back out. Naruto's eyes turned too saucers at witnessing this as Hinata smacked her lips a little bit, taking in the after-taste of the river water. She then looked up in a way that made her look like she was thinking deeply and then shrugged, "It's not bad."

She took another swig from her canteen and then put it back into her pack.

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows and said honestly, "I didn't think you were someone who was willing to get dirty for survival."

Hinata looked at him strangely and asked, "Why? Because I'm a girl?"

Naruto then quickly corrected himself as a blush rose into his face in embarrassment, "Actually, in all my times I've spent with Haruno while on a mission. She would always be so prissy and clean about everything. It's just a bad association I have with the very few girls I've actually talked to. Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you or anything."

Hinata looked pleased and easily forgave him, "It's fine." she smiled, "But have you honestly not talked to that many girls before?"

Naruto looked at her and explained, "No. The only girls I ever talked to more than once a week were Sakura, Ayame Ichiraku, Moegi, but she's a little kid, that doesn't count exactly."

Hinata looked a little bit surprised, "T-that's not uncommon to not know that many girls with what little time we have to socialize. I didn't even talk to anyone other than my teammates and family after we graduated. I only had Shino-kun and Kiba-kun to talk to. Kurenai-sensei also talked to me often times. She's sort of like the big sister I always wanted to have growing up."

Hinata blushed a little bit at the realization that she was letting Naruto read her like a book.

Naruto looked at Hinata enthusiastically and said, "No way! That's the same thing I have with Iruka-sensei!"

"Really?" Hinata asked.

Naruto smiled widely, "Yeah! Iruka-sensei has always been nice to me, and pointed me down the right path for a long time. We actually hung out for so long, he may as well have adopted me. I'm practically like his roommate or something like that."

Hinata smiled as well, "Kurenai sensei is pretty much the same in that sense. Minus the whole adoption or roommate scenario."

Naruto looked down at his feet and kick the ground a little bit and Hinata asked, "So what about your team. How did your relationship with them go? You know, b-before all the chaos set in."

Naruto hesitated for a little while before he spoke, "Well-"

"Let's go guys! We've rested enough! We have to get those goods!" Kurenai called over to the two oblivious genin.

Both Naruto and Hinata jumped and blushed when they realized that their two other team members had been waiting for them to wake up.

They both quickly grabbed all of their things and hunched their pack over their shoulders and ran over to Kurenai and Shino.

"While you two were in dreamland, I was trying to tell you guys that we have only one more mile to go, and the town is there. Hinata, I will need you to use your Byakugan soon so we will know when we're approaching the town." Kurenai told them.

Naruto rose his hand instinctively and asked, "What's the name of this town again? I didn't catch the name."

Kurenai answered, "The town's name is called Izumi. That's where we will find our deliver goods."

Both Naruto and Hinata nodded in understanding.

"Right. Ready? Let's get moving!" she announced.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Team Kurenai finally arrived in the small colonial establishment of Izumi. The town wasn't really that big or extraordinary. Naruto was expecting something much more grand of scale. Like the Crater City he and Jiraiya went to begin his Rasengan training. This town looked more like a mini-version of Konoha, only with no mountains to be seen anywhere and a far less impressive protective wall. The only noticeable feature of the entire town was the large tower in the direct center of the tiny city. Which was where Kurenai was leading her students towards.

Kurenai pointed towards the large building and said, "That's where our goods are being stored. We'll just be in and out before anyone can notice us." she advised her students.

Shino looked at Kurenai in questioning, "Why would we not want to be seen, sensei?"

"Because Shino, Hokage-sama advised me to do so, in order to decrease the chance of any thieves possible spotting us with the goods. We don't want to have any trouble on this mission." she informed sternly.

The three genin all looked at each other, hoping that this mission might not take a more nasty turn than they anticipated.

* * *

Kurenai soon found the correct storage locker in the depository building where their good were located. When she opened it, she was a little surprised at the size of the cardboard packages they had to carry.

They were all quite small, small enough to fit in their backpacks easily. Kurenai had all of her students hand over their bags so she could properly put several of the packages into each of the packs. Once all of their backpacks were full, they still had four more small boxes left. So they each would have to carry one of the remain packages by hand.

They soon quickly departed from the depository building once they checked out with their packages. Shino noticed one or two people give their small group a strange look or two as they began to depart.

"Let's hurry up." he told his two teammates.

* * *

Team Kurenai soon began to speed through the trees once more, heading east towards the Great Ocean.

They each carried one package securely in their arms as they soured through the trees to reach the east before sunset. But time was not very friendly with them today. The sun was already hot on their backs as the powerful rays of orange solar energy radiated so powerfully on the western horizon.

The team stopped tree hopping to avoid the burning sunlight and retreat into the cooling shadows of the trees below them as they ran to their destination.

Within no time at all, Kurenai and her students had to stop moving for the day once twilight hit. They decided to camp out in this small meadow of soft grass surrounded by trees.

Kurenai carefully tossed his pack and package down on the ground and said in an authoritive voice, "Alright, Hinata and I will start by setting up camp and our fire pit. You boys will go and grab us some firewood. Understood?"

Everybody nodded and quickly got to work.

Naruto and Shino started collecting small, broken branches and then went on to find larger, more thick and sturdy logs to keep their campfire burning through the night.

Shino glanced upward and noticed the tree branches up above them were blood red in color. They were both just below a very rare variety of trees called Fire-Bark trees. These trees were known to be extremely flammable and very dangerous to camp under. The Fire-Bark tree naturally produced gases that is stored up into the base of the tree like how a pine tree produces sap. Only instead of sap, Fire-Bark trees produced natural gasoline.

"Naruto!" Shino called over to his comrade who had just decided to whip out his wand.

"What is it, Shino?" he asked as he carefully to aim at one of the Fire-Bark tree branches.

"These are Fire-Trees! The tiniest spark can light up the whole forest. Be careful with what magic you use if any of it can cause fire!"

Naruto looked over to him and said, "I know. I'm gonna chop some up for the campfire to get it started. Watch out!" he warned as he took aim once more.

"_Diffindo!_" he cried out.

Shino saw a sharp wisp of white light erupt out of the tip of Naruto's wand as it raced upward and through the branches of the red-colored trees. The bug-user was surprised to see the branches suddenly fall to the earth and Naruto picked them all up, filling his arms with highly flammable wood.

Naruto walked up to him and said, "It's a Severing charm. Very useful for when you need cut things up!"

Shino looked at him with unseen interest and begun asking, "What other basic spells do you know? The most simple ones, I mean."

Naruto went on to talk to Shino about the basic First-Year and Second-Year level spells he learned. Along with the many useful charms he used during one of his average days on the job.

* * *

When they returned to the campsite to find that Kurenai-sensei and Hinata had already dug up the fire pit, placed the rocks to surround the fire, and even took the liberty of unrolling their sleeping bags for them when the would arrive.

Hinata was the first to see them back and said, "Great to see you guys got the firewood."

Naruto beamed, "You bet we got a huge load! Shino and I found some Fire-Bark Tree wood we can use for the fire tonight!"

Kurenai looked concerned and turned to Shino, "How much did you boys see out there?"

"They were scattered all over the place. I can't entirely certain, but it could surround a good deal of the forests around here, for all we know."

Kurenai thought to herself for a moment before she said, "In any case, we should be careful with any fire we create for tonight. Nothing more than our campfire. Understood, everyone?"

All of the Genin nodded in understanding just as the sun's final rays disappeared into the western horizon.

* * *

Over an hour later, after everybody had a share of food rations for dinner, Kurenai and Shino had fallen asleep. Hinata and Naruto were still up while the campfire still burned strong. The two genin both laid back in their sleeping bags, staring up at the stars. They both took the time to realize that you couldn't see the stars as bright and beautifully in Konoha as much as you do in the middle of nowhere. The lights of the powerful city contained and limited the stars. It's only when you are free and far away from society can you really see the beauty of the world we all live on.

Sure it was a pretty deep thought, but they both subconsciously knew it was the truth.

While Hinata gazed up at the wondrous starry skies, she softly spoke to Naruto, "You never really got to tell me about your relationship with your teammates went. Before everything went out of control."

Naruto continued to stare up at the stars, "…It…was good at one point… But it's only now do I realize how fake it was… One of the only times I ever felt attached to my teammates was when we went on this one mission… It was a C-Rank mission turned A-Rank. We traveled to the Land of Waves to escort and protect this bridge-builder. While we stayed at his house, Kakashi-sensei taught us more advanced chakra control exercises… That was probably the only time I ever truly got along with my teammates and had fun…"

Hinata listened intently to her friend as he spoke more of his past.

"Uchiha and I actually had this on-going race to see which of us would run up to the top of a tree first… In the end, it was a tie… Heh! I actually got along with that jerk-off and practically considered him my brother when his life was in danger…" he smiled at himself for being so naïve, "…I even remember Haruno being nice to me once or twice that entire mission… Kakashi-sensei was insensitive and slightly detached, but he was nice and more than willing to talk to you… He's much better now, these days…"

He glanced away from the stars and looked over to Hinata respectfully, "…It was only whenever our lives were in danger did we ever set aside our differences and learn to get along… I guess everything started to become more obscure and unclear right after our Chunin Exams…"

Hinata began to feel even more sorry for Naruto as he said, "…Sasuke quickly grew more selfish and Sakura just sort of disappeared… Next thing I knew, Sasuke attacks me, thinking I have information about his brother Itachi. As Sakura comes crying to me for help about it…"

Naruto looked back up at the stars and said, "For months, Kakashi-sensei barely even spoke to me, because he was so busy training Sasuke… It wasn't until over two weeks ago did sensei apologize and take full responsibility for everything that happened… At least he had the decency to say he was sorry and try to make amends for everything that happened… I didn't receive such loyal sympathy from my teammates…"

Hinata soon softly spoke after a moments hesitation, "You must have been really lonely to not have anyone to really connect to…"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah… But, it was that mission in Wave that made me realize that they were important to me… It took one mission for me to realize that…"

Hinata simply smiled at her friend in admiration for his perseverance to stay with his teammates. It was good to know that Naruto still found his teammates as important people.

He may not have considered them as precious friends anymore, but they were still his comrades in the same village. Whether he liked it or not, they were still people he would have to protect if he still desired to become Hokage.

* * *

Naruto rolled to his side and dug deep into his backpack. He felt the familiar broken shard he was looking for and carefully pulled it out without cutting anything.

Hinata saw her friend now fiddling around with what looked like a pure cerulean-blue crystal shard. She rolled over to face Naruto as he looked up at the crystal in his hand and back at the stars.

"What's that thing, Naruto-kun?" she asked curiously.

Naruto looked at Hinata for a short second before she showed her the crystal he held in his hand.

"This is a memento to my first C-Rank mission. You know, the one I just told you about. While we were there, I met this boy a little older than either of us. His name was Haku. Unfortunately, he was our enemy on the mission along with his guardian Zabuza Momochi. The were both hired to get rid of the bridge-builder and destroy us as well. At one point, I met Haku alone in the clearing where I was training. There he told me the important life-lesson that inspired me and continues to drive me to stay with my teammates to this very day."

Hinata looked at Naruto as he held the crystal in his hand tightly, "When people are protecting someone truly precious to them, only then can they truly can become as strong as they must…"

Naruto closed his eyes in sadness as he rubbed the shard in his hands softly, "…I will never forget what I learned from Haku and Zabuza for as long as I live…"

Hinata looked towards the ground as Naruto soon said softly, "While Haku and I fought, I remember the amazing water and ice techniques he used against me and Sasuke… He had a kekkei genkai that enabled him to manipulate water and turn it into ice at his own free will. He hardly even used handsigns in order to perform the jutsu's he used…"

Hinata looked very intrigued by the information about this mystery ninja.

"This crystal was the only remaining piece I found on the bridge where we fought…"

Naruto showed her the gleaming crystal in his hand, "This shard is made out of ice that will never melt. Here, check it out…"

He handed the piece of ice to Hinata. And to her surprise, it was freezing cold to her skin and she almost dropped it in reflex.

"…I kept that with me on every mission I've had outside of the village… I kept it to remind me of Haku and Zabuza and the lessons they taught my about the shinobi world… and the lessons about true strength and loyalty…" he said with a sense of adoration.

Hinata handed the blue ice shard back to Naruto and asked, "…What ever happened to them?"

Naruto sighed as he looked at the ice once more and fiddled around with it, "They were both killed… They died side-by-side on that bridge… I watched it all happen with my team by my side… At that moment, I couldn't help but wonder… If I would end up dying like that one day… Dying by my teammates in the end… No love or friendship worth dying for…"

Naruto remained quiet for a while. He waited and then Hinata finally spoke quietly, "You won't have to worry about dying like that, Naruto-kun…" She withdrew her hand from her sleeping bag and reached out to hold onto Naruto's free hand. His face flushed ever so slightly at the unexpected contact. He saw Hinata smile lightly as she softly spoke, "Uchiha and Haruno are not your only teammates anymore… Now you have me, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, and every single one of our friends to die with on the battlefield… that way you won't ever die in vein to people you have no connection with…"

Naruto hesitated for a moment and then said after he smiled, "It's feels a little good knowing that, Hinata-chan."

Naruto held onto her hand and squeezed it gently, "Beside's, I won't have to worry about dying on a battlefield. Because I swore I wouldn't die until I become Hokage…"

Hinata nodded and blushed, only just realizing that Naruto was holding onto her hand.

Suddenly, an owl hooted out somewhere in the Fire-Bark trees. Naruto check his wristwatch to see what time it was and made the two Genin realize just how late it was now. They quickly let go of one another's hand and Naruto said while he shifted in his sleeping bag, "Well it is getting late. We should go to sleep. We n-need to be well-rested for tomorrow. G'night."

Hinata nodded while she turned over in her sleeping bag to try and get comfortable, "Y-yeah! Good night, Naruto-kun."

As the fire continued to blaze and give off a soothing heat, the two remaining Genin soon fell asleep, with Naruto holding onto his ice crystal and Hinata fell into dreams about a certain blonde boy.

* * *

_Precisely Nine Hours Later…_

Naruto and the rest of his squad woke up the following morning to the sun's powerfully bright solar rays. Kurenai was up, first and brightest. She quickly kicked the dirt they dug up to make the fire last night. Shino wrapped up his sleeping bag as did Hinata and Naruto with their own.

Everyone soon checked their bags to check for the packaged valuables they were delivering were still there. And once they checked everything, everyone picked up their own separate package and stood up, completely ready to continue their mission.

On the way, Naruto shared some of his food rations with the other members of his squad. Kurenai in particular looked at Naruto with a sense of pride. She really wondered why anyone from their village would ever look at this kid with any kind contempt.

As soon as the group was finished eating their small breakfast, they found the energy to pick up their pace and soon sped through the brown and red trees of the forest.

Then out of nowhere, a sharp kunai pierced out of the trees and flew past Kurenai's team. They scattered and each of them landed in separate corners of a small forest clearing.

Kurenai courageously called out into the wild, "Show yourselves, cowards!"

About five, fully grown ninja came out of the trees and made themselves visible to the Konoha ninja. They had no headbands on any of them. They must be missing-nin, ninja without a village.

All of the men appeared to be at the peak of their physical heath. All of them were fairly muscular and very menacing in appearance. They all had various lengths of hair which they all did not have the decency to take proper care of. One thing the thieves had in common was the complete lack of dental care. Each of their yellow and grime covered teeth appeared to have a set mind of it's own. It was very revolting to look at any them directly.

The tallest man of the group, supposedly the leader, spoke out above all the rest of the band of thieves, Hand over the goods, ma'am. And there won't be any trouble."

"Unless we want it. Heheheh!" one of the shorter, greasy and fat bandits said with a dumb laugh.

Kurenai smiled in a very seductive way, "I'm sorry, boys. But I'm afraid we won't be able to do that…" she said in a voice to match her sexually appealing smile.

One of the bandits chuckled to themselves at how sexy Kurenai looked, "Why the hell not hot-stuff?"

Kurenai laughed a little in a smirk, "Because I will have to kill you. Like this."

Suddenly the laughing bandit heard Kurenai's voice come from right behind him. Before he could possibly react, his throat was slit by the seductive jounin.

The other bandits soon realized that the team they had cornered had slipped them into a powerful genjutsu by Kurenai. The illusion allowed them to escape and slip past the bandits without notice as Kurenai made a move to make the first kill.

One of the other remain bandits was adept in Genjutsu enough to reverse it and begin to throw themselves in battle and get those packages.

All of the members of Team Kurenai were thrown into battle, every member of the team taking on a bandit separately.

Hinata dodged every single one of her bandits swings of a bloody and rusty katana. She continuously dodged and evaded every uncoordinated swing of the man's blade. Until she finally saw a chance and ducked down and thrusted a powerful Juuken strike to the man's chest. The bandit doubled over and clenched his hands to his chest in unbelievable pain. Hinata then delivered a low kick to his legs, causing him to fall over to his side.

Shino dodged and blocked every swipe of his bandit's swinging arms. The bandit he was fighting didn't use any weapons at all, so he must be a taijutsu specialist. Shino soon summoned his kikaichu beetles and had them launched directly into his bandits chest and face. The bandit was completely caught by surprise and soon started screaming as soon as he realized that he was covered with insects and where at present, feeding on his chakra.

Meanwhile, Kurenai and Naruto were both having a little bit more difficulty than their other two comrades. Naruto was facing a very quick paced ninjutsu expert. He continuously ran through many handsigns and started creating small pillars of earth that sent Naruto off his feet constantly, he could barely keep enough footing to enable himself to so much as hit the guy. Naruto soon created several Shadow clones to try and confuse his enemy with large numbers. But the bandit improvised as he sent pillars of earth to attack all of the Narutos that continued to multiply. Thankfully, none of the shadow clones were destroyed as they were only launched to land back on their feet gracefully.

Kurenai was facing the head of the bandits. He was the one who apparently reversed the genjutsu. Kurenai wasn't as professionally practiced in ninjutsu as much as she was in genjutsu. She knew enough taijutsu to hold her own in battle against this guy at least. Kurenai was more practiced in silently killing, not jump right in and fight until you drop. Thankfully for her, this man wasn't as strong as his fellow men were, even if he appeared to be built for a fair amount of taijutsu fighting. Kurenai struck first by swinging her kunai in a graceful, full-body spin. She failed to slice her opponent as she wished, as he tried to dive forward to stab her. Kurenai reacted quickly and dug her knife in his side, but it did not go in deep enough to end him quickly.

Soon Naruto grew aggravated that he and his Shadow clones were being thrown around like rag dolls. He soon got an idea and let himself get thrusted upward by one of the rising rock pillars. He soon jumped upward with the force of the rock pillar to use as his momentum. Naruto grasped one of the thick tree branches and swung his body to firmly plant his feet to the top of the branch. Naruto swiftly dug into his jacket and threw a large barrage of kunai and shruriken. The Earth-using ninjutsu specialist had the experienced reflexes to evade most of Naruto's projectiles. Only two of them got lodged into his right leg. He yelled out in pain and tried to pull out the weapons. When he finally withdrew them from his leg, He was surprised when Naruto launched himself toward the guy and kicked him square in the face. Causing him to be thrown back and lodged into a Fire-Bark tree at the opposite end and severely splintered him.

Kurenai had a little bit of trouble trying to continue her gradual winning dance of death with her opponent. Swiping at each other, but neither one of their knives met the other's skin. Eventually, the leader bandit gave up and tried to throw himself at Kurenai and finally kill her for the package she had strapped to her back. Kurenai thought very quickly and tossed the man over her, using his own built up momentum to throw him head-first into a tree. Killing him instantly.

Naruto looked around the earth-torn forest clearing and examined his fellow teammates success. He admired at the friends accomplishments as each one of them decimated their separate enemies. But then he heard a battle cry erupt out of the mouth of his previous bandit having just emerged out of the tree. Naruto turned around swiftly as he saw the ninjutsu bandit sprint towards him, completely bloodied up and saw several hundred wood chips lodged into his back and arms. Naruto suddenly got a clever idea and whipped out his wand and carefully aimed at his revived opponents back and cried, "_Lacarnum Inflamarae!_"

A small short burst of bright-orange light launched out of the tip of Naruto's wand and set the wood lodged in his back and arms on fire. The bandit started screaming in pain as he ran into the line of trees, although in a completely uncoordinated fashion. He soon dropped to the ground, dead as a doornail. His corpse now cremating itself.

The group soon re-gathered and checked one another over.

_The Hall of Prophecies by Nicholas Hooper _(Starting 2:30)

"Is everybody okay?" Kurenai asked her students as they approached each other.

"I'm fine." Hinata looked as if she were still ready for more action.

Shino simply nodded. Looking as if he hadn't even fought.

Naruto said, "I'm okay!"

Just then, the corpse of Naruto's burning enemy suddenly exploded from the flaming shards of wood lodged into it. Causing more shards of fire to spray over the other trees within a ten-foot radius. Unfortunately, all of Team Kurenai forgot that they were in an area completely covered with Fire-Bark trees. The fire's of the tiny explosion quickly caused one of the other trees nearby to become engulfed in flames and begin to swell and soon exploded with a great and powerful boom. This was now causing an enormous domino-effect to commence as more and more highly flammable trees to cause a series of explosions and an intense firestorm.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Naruto moaned.

'_**RUN!' **_Harry yelled from within Naruto's mind.

"EVERYBODY RUN! HEAD FOR THE EAST!" Kurenai ordered her students to flee away from the tremendous danger the was rapidly growing around them.

The team did as they were told and ran as fast as they could away from the roaring flames and the brutal explosions that just increased in force every fast step they took to escape. Naruto looked behind them and could have sworn he saw a stampede of various wild beasts in the form of flames chase after them with the greatest speed. Hinata could feel the intense heat of the firestorm on the back of her neck as she ran as fast as her legs could go along with her teammates and teacher. Shino quickly ordered his beetles to retreat deeper into his body in order to protect his internal insect colony. Fire was one the only elements he could never endure whether he was on a mission or not. He would never endanger his insects with such a force of destruction. Kurenai was more concerned with the safety of her students more than anything else. She was terrified to think of what could happen to her students. They were her top priority. She could not concern her own safety or the safety of the mission if her students were in such a moment of peril. She continuously urged them to push themselves forward and away from the waves of fire behind them.

Out of nowhere, more flames of abnormal size began to form and explode more trees in front of them. Team Kurenai was forced to split up into two groups. Kurenai grabbed Shino and pulled him along to the right open passage, while Naruto grabbed Hinata and dragged her along with him to the left open passage.

Kurenai gasped, "Naruto! Hinata! Make it to the east!"

She was referring them to head east for that was where the closest edge of the forest of scattered Fire-Bark trees was. She prayed to kami that her students would get out unharmed.

Naruto grabbed Hinata and urged her to follow him, "C'MON! This way!"

Naruto and Hinata saw, as they ran at top speeds, how the flames were licking up and across the sides of the cleared passage of burning forest the two Genin plowed through to get to safety. Naruto and Hinata we overcome with the many explosions that followed behind them. Causing them to feel the sensation of being thrown forward by the force of the massive firepower releasing so furiously.

As the pair continued to run, the thick smoke from the flames began to settle in and obscure their breathing and caused them to start coughing and gasping for fresh air. It was almost as if the firestorm were alive and intent upon killing them both. The smoke and heat was becoming so overwhelming.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and try to see through the massive cloud of smoke that was beginning to obscure both of their vision. Hinata saw just up ahead that the forest had finally began to end. They were almost free of this living nightmare!

"Naruto-kun! The exit is right there! One hundred meters away!" she shouted to her teammate.

"KEEP GOING!" he shouted back.

Hinata looked ahead even further and to her relief, she saw Kurenai and Shino already escaped and laying on the ground, coughing out the smoke that no doubted filled their lungs.

"Kurenai-sensei and Shino! They're alright!" she cried to Naruto.

Naruto smiled between coughs. Relived and happy that the others got out of the fire. But soon went back into full panic-mode when he saw through the smoke that more flames were licking towards their only exit. The flames were about entrap them both.

"HINATA-CHAN! RUN! KEEP RUNNING!" he roared like a lion.

Naruto then saw that they both might not be able to get through the shrinking ring of fire, slowing becoming another wall of fiery death.

He suddenly whipped out his wand as he still sprint next to Hinata and pointed directly at the ring of fire and roared out, "_Partus Tempos!_"

Unfortunately, Naruto was not very adept in this spell yet. He only managed to create enough space for only one of them to escape. He quickly pulled behind Hinata and hockey-pushed Hinata through the open gateway, freeing her of the deathly flames. Leaving himself to burn in the terrible storm of fire.

Hinata gasped when she realized what Naruto did and cried out for him in a horrified voice,

"NARUTO-KUN!"

* * *

To Be Continued…

* * *

**MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Evil cliff-hanger! What a rush!**

**Azeroth44: Oh, settle down, you silly bitch!**

**Naruto: WHAT? Did I make it? Do I make it? WHAT HAPPENS?**

**Kvsyaoran: You're gonna have to find out later, burn victim-boy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Naruto (Gets up from his seat and starts shaking Kvsyaoran back and forth): I-HAVE-TO-KNOW-WHAT-HAPPENS!**

**Kvsyaoran: Okay! Okay! I'll post it next week! I'll post it next week!**

**King-of-Wings-360: Look! I poke outta my head!**

**(Naruto stops shaking Kvsyaoran)**

**Everybody: KING!**

**Kvsyaoran: Ladies and gentlemen! Fanboys and fangirls! May I introduce you to King-of-Wings-360! He will be making several cameo appearances throughout the commentary.**

**(Applause)**

**Kvsyaoran: King of Wings here is a newcomer author such as myself. He's a pretty damn good and talented author. Seriously guys, check this dude's stories. He is currently writing a story about the anime Bokurano. It's a pretty interesting mecha anime in which these kids in a slightly futuristic Tokyo have to save the world from destructive enemy robots by piloting a giant robot that sort of looks like a combination of Coop's giant robot car from MEGAS XLR and Shingi's Eva from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Check out this anime if you have not seen it yet or heard about it, because it is awesome! But if you have seen it, check out King of Wings 360 account and it will be right there. He's seriously an amazing author, so check this guy out.**

**Naruto: You done?**

**KoW360: Yeah, I think he's done.**

**Azeroth44: Yep! He is!**

**Kvsyaoran: Can I speak for myself here?**

**Everybody: No.**

**Kvsyaoran: Well, anyway. That's all I have for today, everybody! Tune in next time to see if Naruto will survive. And what the hell is Danzo up to? Might he be planning to do something EVIL?**

**KoW360: Oh my god! He stole your flamethrower!**

**Kvsyaoran: THAT BASTARD! AZEROTH! Fetch me my magical slingshot!**

Review please!


	11. The Town With An Ocean View

**Hello everyone. I'm very sorry that you guys were left with a cliffhanger, and I feel way too guilty to leave you guys waiting any longer than a week! I also decided to make the sudden cut because I would have dragged the chapter for too long. By the way, I forgot to make a 10 chapter anniversary commentary. But I've decided to wait until I reach my twentieth chapter before I would do anything super-special-awesome. **

**Azeroth44**: YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!

**Kvsyaoran**: Oh, let's just give our eager readers what they deserve! A continuation!

**Azeroth44**: Meh! Meh times infinity!

**Kvsyaoran**: Okay, so let's get this thing started already!

Here's my rant for this chapter, before we start:

**Not that it's vitally important or anything, but if Naruto had an entirely different voice actor other than Maile Flanagan. Who do you think would be the best choice for this particular story? I will post the choices followed by their most notable roles in parentheses. **

**Jason Liebrecht (Syaoran Li, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles) **

**Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang, Avatar)**

**Aaron Dismuke (Alphonse Elric, FMA)**

**Dante Basco (Prince Zuko, Avatar)**

**Elijah Runcorn (Young Prince Zuko, Avatar)**

**Zack Braff (JD, Scrubs) (He also does some voice acting) **

**Personally, I see Naruto with Zach Eisen's voice as a kid, with Jason Liebrecht's voice as a teenager. **

**Maile Flanagan did a good job with his voice sometimes, but it got really annoying A LOT before they decided to cut out 'believe it'. And let's admit, if it had been Aang's voice that said 'believe it', it would have been much better to endure, hell, it would've been music to our ears. And why didn't they re-cast Naruto for Shippuden? Wouldn't VIZ Media change his voice to make it sound more cool and older. Because I can still hear Flanagan's voice just **_**trying**_** to sound older. And when she tries to make it sound older, it makes it sounds like Naruto has throat cancer and is trying to endure. (Kid, I understand that you are a walking inspiration. But this is taking it a bit too far, don't cha think?) **

**Anyway, that's why I prefer watching the English Sub over the English dub. Even though I love a majority of the voice actors in the English dub, because they can actually do a pretty damn good job. Especially Yuri Lowenthal as the voice of Sasuke, because his voice **_**alone**_** cries out the word 'douche'. **

**That's my rant then. Here you guys go! Remember to review, please.**

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

_'Blah'_ : Naruto's Thoughts

'_**Blah' **_or _'Blah' _: Harry talking to Naruto/other people's thoughts

**Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile, all the way back at Konoha. Things were not going as well for Danzo Shimura as much as they were for Naruto Uzumaki. Danzo was _not_ happy. The old warhawk had been more miserable than he ever has been in all of his seventy years.

He had been bidding his time for almost fourteen years, waiting, mediating, and trying to figure out a way to finally solve the Kyuubi problem. Trying to conjure a plan to either control or destroy the demon-child, as he preferred to Naruto. Years ago, he planned on taking him in himself and recruit him into his secret army of Root ANBU. All shortly after the outcome of the Kyuubi's initial attack. But that meddlesome Sarutobi had his previous seat of power as Hokage reinstated. He took in Naruto as his own grandson, so he refused to let Danzo take baby Naruto away from him, using the authoritative power of both a grandfather and a Kage ruler. Insisting that it was best if Naruto were raised like a normal boy.

It was then, that Danzo had decided that if he could not control the Kyuubi vessel, then he would have to destroy what he could not control. But Danzo's plans on destroying him were all too risky to enact immediately. He first tried do small things; first by paying expendable civilians to bully and beat up the boy. Overtime, he hired more civilians or even had some of his own Root soldiers to disguise themselves as civilians and shop keepers and attempt to beat him to death. He even paid certain grocery store owners to poison his food and water. But Naruto kept surviving and every other plan Danzo tried kept failing. And with every failed plan, Danzo only grew more impatient and desperate to destroy the demon scum. What mad matters worse for him was that that recent hearing two months ago, was the closest chance he had and it completely backfired on him. The boy was still alive and his powers were growing and becoming more and more of a threat to his future goals. To Danzo, he felt it was his destiny bestowed upon him by the gods, that he should destroy the boy and soon.

One of the major problems for Danzo now was his newly restricted and highly limited power. Ever since his completely outrageous attempt to eliminate Naruto using mob-mentality back at the hearing, Danzo's previous authorities and political powers were almost entirely stripped from him. He was forbidden to speak against any or all decisions that he did not personally approve of. The only political power he had left was the only one he should have had to begin with..

Voting.

Danzo now grew so purely livid at the very mention of the names Naruto Uzumaki and Harry Potter. He now began to make new plans. New ways he could enact to finally end Naruto and get rid of his rival Kage-level Sarutobi. The crippled, old ninja sat in his office in the old ANBU HQ. Years ago, Danzo had bought the property after the Kyuubi attack and had it refurbished into a book depository/extended Hokage build wing. His office was relatively big in size and looked somewhat identical to the Hokage's office, only it had a much darker paint-job that gave the room a feeling reminiscent to a dictator. The warhawk relaxed in his comfortable armchair as he observed his glorious office. He appeared very unsatisfied.

'_As soon as I become Hokage, I will see to it that my office will reflect my rightful authority.._' he thought to himself ambitiously.

He got up from his seat and dragged himself to his window and starred out to the village..

'_In time, I will stand taller than I am at present as I look down upon my village… My soldiers, my pawns will bow down before me as they will…_'

He frowned , '_But if I am to do that, I must first deal with Sarutobi and that Potter boy… All in due time, all in due time…_'

Danzo turned his back to the window after he closed the blinds, so as not to be seen. So he used his cane to saunter over to his bookshelf. He then clicked a tiny button on his cane, which caused a small key to pop out of the ball of it. He took the tiny key and inserted it into a small opening of one of the books entitled, 'The Will of Fire'_. _Immediately upon inserting the key and twisting it, a large section of the bookshelf had shifted to the side and into the wall, revealing a poorly lit elevator. Danzo entered and clicked a button that took him down into the earth. It lowered him deep into a hidden realm beneath the foundations of Konoha. The elevator opened to reveal a massive chamber. There was a four-way bridge connect to the ends of the chamber. It appeared that the bridges were the only solid ground to stand on in the poorly lit space. The purplish walls appeared to have no visible ceiling, being down so far underground. As the only source of light in the massive chamber could not even be traced.

From where Danzo stood, a massive assembly of men, women, and children all dressed in ANBU uniforms bowed down before him in the highest respect.

Danzo examined each of them, searching among all of his pawns, one individual he wished to choose for the important mission he was going to assign. Once he spotted the person he wished to choose, and slowly made his way to the front of the line of human puppets. He firmly pointed his walking stick to the smallest male in the second row. The youth appeared to have not even entered his teens yet. His silhouette was very dark but stood out with his unusually pale skin.

"All of you, except for this one _**leave**_."

The rest of the assembly vanished without a second thought, leaving no trace that they had even been there. They left Danzo and the young boy alone in the massive chamber. The old man stamped his walking stick on the ground firmly and said with a clear and string voice, "In due time, I will make it certain that you will be assigned to the future Team Kakashi to replace Sasuke Uchiha. I am now planning arrangements…"

The shrouded, but clearly pale-white youth remained very still.

"Not only are you close to Naruto Uzumaki in age, you are also stronger than anyone else in your generation in the village… Most important of all, you possess those incomparable talents with a paintbrush…" Danzo smirked slightly as he imagined the Kyuubi-boy being killed by his errand boy in front of him.

He looked at the boy with his only visible and clearly squinted eye as he pointed his reliable eagle-walking stick at him, "You yourself should be in preparation for the upcoming date… Your mission is to obtain any information regarding the Jinchuuriki host, Naruto Uzumaki…What better way to obtain information, if he can relate to someone his age and become friends?"

The pale boy nodded his head in clear understanding.

Danzo then said, "From today, until the completion of your mission, your name will be… Sai…"

* * *

Back in the Eastern Forests, an acre of the Fire-Bark tree population was accidentally lit up and a large chunk was currently on fire ferociously.

Team Kurenai stood and watched in horror as they saw Naruto had sacrificed himself to push Hinata out of the fire to save her. Hinata held her hand over her mouth, trying her best not to believe what had happened.

"…Naruto-kun, no…" she whispered to herself in a quiet voice.

Shino could not believe it as much as Kurenai-sensei did. They both stood wide-eyed as the opening passageway closed into a wall of orange and yellow flame.

Suddenly they heard a loud explosion from within the wall and they heard someone screaming long and loudly. Hinata cringed and tried not to cry at the noise, but something seemed off about the yell. It didn't sound as if someone were screaming in pain, it sounded as if the scream was that of something else. Soon the screaming grew louder and louder with each passing second. And then Naruto flew out of the wall of fire, covered in ash and dirt but still screaming as he slammed into the solid ground directly next to the gathered team, dropping all of the packages the rest of the team dropped before they fought the bandits.

"GODDAMIT! THAT HURT!" he yelled, clenching both of his ears with his hands.

Hinata was amazed and ecstatic to see that Naruto was still alive, and was about to hug him fiercely saying, "Oh, thank god! Thank you, god! Thank you!"

Naruto was writhing on the ground, clearly in pain.

"ARGHHH! HOW DO THEY WALK AWAY IN MOVIES WITHOUT FLINCHING WITH EXPLOSIONS BEHIND THEM? THERE'S NO WAY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, clenching his ears that were now bleeding.

Kurenai knelt down to Naruto and tried to ask him, "Is anything hurt, Naruto? Talk to me!"

Naruto hadn't heard her and continued to yell, "THE MOVIE INDUSTRY IS COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE ON HOW THEY PORTRAY EXPLOSIONS! IT'S TOTAL BULLOCKS!"

Kurenai got to work quickly, for she was adept in medical ninjutsu. She quickly focused chakra and her hands soon glowed green as she forced Naruto to remove his hands from his head. Naruto cringed and yelled out in pain as she tried to heal his damaged ears. Shino who was just next to Hinata, but couldn't help but think of his own laughter at Naruto's rant on explosions and thought to himself, 'Heheh! The Other Guys was funny!'

Kurenai ignored Naruto's flinching and yells of pain and she soon noticed his ears began to heal themselves along with her own healing power. The Kyuubi and Harry were clearly working together at once to heal their host. Kurenai smiled as Naruto's contorted and pain-stricken expression started to grow softer and more at ease.

Soon Kurenai pulled out some medicinal bandages and pads and quickly tapped them to Naruto's ears to dry out the blood that was oozing out earlier. Naruto soon sat up straight, Indian-style and tried to test his hearing by listening to the rest of his team.

Kurenai soon spoke out as she relaxed next to her injured student, "Okay then, would you mind telling me what the hell you were think of going back?"

She glared at Naruto angrily for frightening her as Naruto laughed and held up one of the boxes in victory, "I wanted to make sure everyone was okay before I Apparated back to get the goods we need."

Hinata and Shino smiled at their teammate devotion to the missions success and the fact that he was alright again. Kurenai did not looked very amused, "Do you have any idea just how stupid that little stunt of yours was? How did you even survive that blast?"

Naruto smiled a little bit less, "Sorry, sensei. But as far as how I survived, Harry told me to focus a ton of my magic around me and created this protective bubble around me. It vanished right when I hit the wall of fire there." he pointed to the spot where he flew through.

"Naruto, if your life is in that great of danger, then the mission's importance is diminished. You didn't have to do that!"

"I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei. I just didn't want us to fail the mission and go back home with a failed mission. It's my fault that the forest lit up anyway. So I thought…"

Kurenai sighed as she rubbed her hand across her face to rub off some sweat and dirt.

'_Did Kakashi and Guy have to go through this much while Naruto was under their wing?_'

"It's fine… But the forest burning up was just an accident waiting to happen,… Let's just say that it's lucky that it was _us_ instead of a few civilians camping out. We got out alive, and that's what is important." she said with a hand on his shoulder, trying to relieve him of his guilt.

Hinata spoke out next, "But Kurenai-sensei, what if the fire keeps spreading. It'll be a disaster!"

Kurenai smiled as she pulled out her pocket map, "According to this," she pointed to the location they were currently resting, "The Fire-Trees such as these are scattered everywhere. This part of the forest is just one of the smaller groups of trees further apart from the other tree colonization's that go for miles. There's nothing to worry about."

Shino then said to help with greater reassurance, "Besides, Fire-Bark trees are filled with gasoline, not oil. The burnings will go out within the hour, guaranteed."

Naruto and Hinata both sighed in relief.

Kurenai sighed and said as she pocketed her map once more, "Lets rest here for a few minutes, and then we'll get back on schedule. Anyone got a problem with that?"

Everyone shook their heads and Kurenai breathed, "Good." as she collapsed her head on top her backpack.

* * *

_Evacuating London by Harry-Gregson Williams_

The team ended up resting for a full thirty minutes. The only reason they even moved from where they were was due to a large tree branch having almost landed on top of them and the goods they were still delivering.

They finally decided to keep moving with the deliveries and only looked back at the mess they left behind when they were a mile away. They looked back and saw a black scar-like mark in the place where the tiny labyrinth of Fire-Bark trees once stood. The smoke that rose above the burned remains of the patch of trees, rose up in a high, dark cloud. Naruto felt ashamed as he gazed at the destruction that he caused. He soon continued on with a heavy heart as Hinata urged him to keep going with her at his side.

Naruto now smelled the burning stink coming off from himself and the rest of his team as they kept walking closer to the east coast. He hoped that as soon as he and everyone else got to the ocean, they could jump into the ocean to cool off and get the stink of chard wood off.

Team Kurenai soon got back up to speed as they leapt from tree to tree closer to their destination. After a few hours of non-stop tree jumping, they began to slow down their pace and start walking again. Soon Naruto picked up a familiar scent he didn't get to smell since his mission to the Land of Waves. He relaxed his entire being as he walked through the now cool forest, breathing in lungfuls of fresh, salty air. Hearing the sound of seagulls crowing in the sky above them.

_One breath for all _

The trees soon parted before them to reveal the harbor town of Minato, named after the Yondiame Hokage himself. The town was apparently built around the natural harbor and became a very thriving community. The town has since become one of the key harbors for traders, merchants, and seaports for delivery. All of the buildings each had a perfect view of the vast, clear-blue ocean. Making the community all the more enjoyable for it's occupants.

_Beneath the wall _

Naruto and the others gasped in awe at the beautiful sight before them. Hinata was frozen in wonder at the sight that laid before her very eyes. She had never seen the ocean before. She only saw the oceans in books, magazines, and photos. But never before had she seen the sea in person, seen it with her own eyes. It was the most beautiful sight she had seen in her young life so far.

Shino was also enthralled at the sight of the sea. But he didn't seem to want to get anywhere near the water. Due to the fact that he was one with his insects, he was not open to the environments his bugs could not endure. Any body of water that had the element of salt in it, he could not handle.

_(Feel This, Feel This) _

Kurenai could not remember the last time she saw a place such as this. Her missions usually led her to places more desolate and mountainous than this. She hoped that in her future, herself and a certain bearded man could take a vacation to a place like this.

Naruto quickly got overly excited at seeing the ocean and cried, running ahead to the shore excitedly, "Last one in the ocean is a rotten fishcake!"

Hinata didn't want to pass up the opportunity to jump into the waters of the Great Eastern Ocean. And the fact that Naruto would be with her made it all the more enjoyable. So she raced down the hills to catch up with him.

Kurenai sighed, and then smiled. Remembering that these two were still technically children and had the obligated right to enjoy themselves and be silly if they wished to be.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata soon got into a heated competition to see who would reach the sand shores first. Hinata was actually trying to beat Naruto trying to get there, and soon Naruto found himself trying to outrun her more. It wasn't long before they were sprinting through the trees trying to beat one another to reach the beach. Both Naruto and Hinata were both foot to foot, trying to see who would reach the finish line. The two genin were at each others shoulders just like Ino and Sakura were when they raced each other to their home classroom. It wasn't long before they were pushing each other trying to win. The two of them started taunting each other as they ran through the trees that soon began to disappear in numbers.

"I'm gonna get there first!" Hinata laughed.

_One breath for all… _

"No! _I'm_ gonna beat ya!" Naruto retorted with a soft chuckle.

The forest disappeared, and in a bright flash of sunlight, the beach appeared before them in slow motion. The shimmering waters, the white sand, and the blazing hot sun. It looked absolutely spectacular and more bedazzling to them both. The two genin leapt out of the forest line and landed ankle-deep into the hot sands. Once landed, Hinata felt the loose earth sink in between her toes in a sweet, tingling sensation she never felt before. She breathed in the salty air and exhaled in a satisfying sigh. She had smelled the salty air earlier, only it was much stronger and even more soothing to her at the beach.

_So tender… _

Naruto also sighed after he took a deep breath of the moisturized air. He relaxed so dramatically that he felt his eyes close against his own will. He couldn't feel the sand through his shoes, but he felt the sand creep into his sneakers and ran against his ankles. He opened his eyes and discovered upon sight that they both won the race to reach the shore line, but the race was to get to the ocean first.

_(Feel this, Feel This) _

"Race is still on Hinata-chan!" he called out, as he dropped to the sand to remove his shoes and socks.

_Tender… _

Hinata snapped back to reality and saw the ocean waves in front of her, she sudden had an uncontrollable urge to get into the water. To experience the feel of the liquid, to feel the temperature. There was just something about water that held a power over her that she couldn't explain or understand.

_(Feel this, Feel This) _

She quickly tossed her delivery package next to Naruto's and slipped off her sandals just as Naruto got his final sock off. She began to run once more and Naruto followed behind her. She swung off her fur jacket as Naruto threw off his jacket and she ran into water and dove the rest of her body in, splashing in he process. The dramatic change in temperature chilled her over-heated being and sent goosebumps down her spine. The cold saltwater cooled her body down from the heat of the day they have all endured. She dove her head down and forced herself to adjust to temperature of the water. The sound of crashing waves disappeared beneath the waters as she felt the clear liquid encase her. There really was something about the water that made her feel at peace. It felt as if the ocean were a part of herself that was missing and had been finally returned.

_One breath for all… _

She opened her eyes beneath the clear water, and to her surprise, the salty water did not sting her eyes. She saw Naruto having just reached the water and dove himself into the cold water. She soon raised her head out of the water to breath a little bit, when she heard Naruto cry in a mixture of delight and distress, "SWEET JEHOVAH! THAT'S COLD!"

_So tender…_

Hinata shook the water out of her hair and said, "Looks like I win, Naruto-kun!"

_Feel this, Feel This, Feel This… _

Naruto turned white-eyed and slammed his raised fists back down into the water and whined, "Aww, man! Next contest, I'll beat ya! You'll see!" he ended with determination.

_Tender…_

Naruto thought to himself deeply. He suddenly realized that he had just got into a heated race with Hinata Hyuga of all people. He never thought that he would get to have another rivalry any different than the one he once had with Sasuke. But in that inner conflict, Naruto never truly connected with Sasuke. It was just a race between the two of them, set to see who would become the top dog. There was no true friendship or happiness within that rivalry. But just now, with Hinata, Naruto was having fun. This is what Naruto wanted out of his rivalry with Sasuke. Fun, laughter, enjoyment, and above all else, happiness.

Naruto soon got used to the cool water and let his body float with the rising and lowering of the small waves. He let his face absorb the warmth from the sun and closed his eyes in blissful relaxation. He then laughed to himself out loud and said, "Heheheh! Hinata-chan! This feels so good! Hahaha!"

Hinata smiled brightly at her friend's happiness as they both gently floated in the crisp blue waters, side by side. It took about five fast minutes for Shino and Kurenai to catch up to them on the sandy shores. Naruto glanced towards the rest of their team and called out, "You guys! You got to try this out! The water is great!"

Kurenai looked over to Shino and asked, "You're not going into the water, are you?"

"No." Shino said flatly.

Then that's two of us. You guys wrap up your kill-time! We have a mission, remember?" she called over to the two genin.

Naruto gave an exasperated sigh as he stood up in the water, "Oh man… Alright! C'mon Hinata-chan. We gotta go…"

He firmly planted his feet into the loose, sandy seafloor as he began walking back to the shore. Hinata sighing in a more frustrated tone got up and followed behind her teammate. Naruto soon made it out of the water, dripping torrents of saltwater from his pants and shirt. Hinata was the same as he once out of the water, dripping tons of water. They soon gathered their clothes, backpacks and goods as they followed their sensei into the harbor town of Minato.

* * *

They followed Kurenai along the harbor around the edge of the sea. She wanted to at least let herself and her students get to glance at the magnificent ocean while they made their way to destination. They walked along, passing by many different ships and ports. They also ran into a great number of merchants of all shapes and sizes selling foods and goods from across the world. Shino looked a bit skeptical while the passed a merchant selling mysterious merchandise. Hinata looked interested at the shouts of offers and deals but generally shook her head and focused on the road. Naruto however, gasped and awed in wonder at the heavily illustrated people and merchandise.

Naruto wasn't paying attention to where he was walking until he accidentally bumped into Kurenai when she stopped to talk to their eagerly awaiting client.

In no time at all, the captain of the delivery ship paid in full a grand total of 100,000 ryo. As soon as payments were in order, everyone took their individual turns handing over the packaged goods that they risked their lives with bandits and firestorms. When Hinata and Naruto handed over their boxes, the captain of the ship asked, "What happened to you guys? Run through a storm of explosions and decided to cool off in the water too long?"

Naruto happily answered after he slid-glanced to Hinata, "Yep!"

The sailor remained blank-faced for a moment before breaking out in sheer laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! Yeah right, kid! But thank you for delivering this stuff for us, seriously!" he laughed.

Naruto frowned and remained silent. Hinata just shrugged and urged Naruto to come along, "Just forget it."

The team soon departed from the port and stood by to see the ship set sail.

"…I hope they run into pirates…" Naruto mumbled to himself. Clearly unhappy that he did not receive the thank you he was in need of from their mildly rude client. Hinata elbowed him lightly and just smiled at him to help them forget their unbelieving client.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun. Someday, that man will look back on this day, knowing full-well who you are and regret what he said. You'll see."

Naruto looked at her interestingly, "You think?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

Naruto shrugged in response and said, "I really wish we knew what it was that was so important about that baggage we had to carry these past two days."

Hinata looked a little uneasy as to whether she should answer or not. Unfortunately Naruto noticed her perplexed look.

"What? You know what was in the package?" he asked insistently.

Hinata started to fiddle with her fingers a little in a nervous fit.

"Well-Uh-actually it was… um… firewood." she said after a moments hesitation.

Naruto suddenly turned rigid and his face began to slowly turn red. He stood absolutely motionless until he started to shake with building anger.

Suddenly, several fruits that a merchant was selling, exploded out of nowhere. Causing bits of fruity fresh to fly everywhere and spray bystanders with juice. Several shoppers and store keepers screamed when a number of other foods they were either buying or selling randomly started to walk around on their own or explode violently. Naruto's teammates looked very wary as they realized that Naruto was the one who was causing this weird stuff to happen.

Naruto breathed in a great lungful of air and then yelled at the top of his lungs, "WHAT-THE-FRICK?"

Suddenly a merchant who was carrying a huge crate of fresh, hand-picked cabbages, wheeled into the market at the wrong time and place. His carefully collected vegetables suddenly exploded into thousands of shredded lettuce pieces.

"My cabbages!" he screamed in horror.

(A/N: Lol! I had to do it!)

Hinata saw this and quickly urged Naruto to calm down and move away from the chaos he accidentally caused.

"Move! Move! Move! Move!" Kurenai urged her team away before they could be accused of the accident. Carrying Naruto, who was still stiff with anger and his ears were now whistling steam.

* * *

Team Kurenai was now walking down the main street of the harbor town trying to wait out the unexpected uproar. Naruto soon calmed down and tried to apologize for his loss of control. The rest of the team understood and insisted to him that he forget that it even happened. Naruto would have continued his apologies when he suddenly realized how itchy and uncomfortable he felt. So did Hinata. Everything except her coat and his jacket seemed to cause them both great irritance. They quickly summed up that it was the salt water they were foolishly swimming in earlier that was making their clothes starchy and itchy.

Kurenai held his nose and said to the two Genin, "You guys are starting to stink."

Naruto lifted his arm to smell himself and cringed, "I smell like Grandpa's great Aunt Tessy."

Hyuga sniffed the sleeve of her coat and said, "I'm not that much better."

Shino looked over to the boardwalk and pointed, "There's a few sand showers at the boardwalk over there."

And sure enough there were several outside showers lined across the boardwalk. All of them were lined up, in case some beach goers needed to spray some sand and saltwater off of their suits and bodies. But a majority of the stalls were taken by several locals, leaving only one available for the two preteens.

Naruto did not look very open to the idea of letting water pour down his body, while everyone passing by would watch.

"After you two have washed down, then you could go to a bathroom a change up into dryer clothes. Maybe?" Shino suggested.

"I'm not taking a shower with hundreds of bystanders walking around!" Naruto stated uncomfortably.

Hinata smirked as she started making her way, slowly, toward the shower, "Then if your not going to, then I guess I will. And that's one more thing I beat you at, Naruto-kun." she ended with a playful wink.

Naruto opened his eyes wide and rushed over to the shower to beat her, "Oh no, you don't Hinata-chan!"

The two friends soon pushed at each other playfully, trying to beat the other in getting to the outdoor cleaning stall. Shino remained stoic while Kurenai sighed and shook her head with a smile, 'Oh, those two…'

Eventually Shino called over to them when Hinata and Naruto decided to Rock, Paper, Scissors for the first shower, "You know, there is another shower that just opened right next to you two."

They both froze and noticed that the person who was using it before had just left.

"Oh." they realized in unison.

* * *

Naruto soon grabbed some dispensable soap and ran it over most of his salty clothes and armpits. Hinata mirrored his cleansing ritual, minus the armpit bit. While Naruto let the soup set in, he started humming to himself and ran soap through his untidy hair. Once he started rising himself he shook his body rapidly in the water, shaking out any soap he missed. He also started singing to himself subtly, "_I'm a maniac, maniac on the floor! And I'm dancing like I never danced before!_"

Shino grew bored that it was taking him so long and spotted a hose nearby. He then sprayed Naruto down with freezing cold water to quicken the process.

"Oh my god! That's cold!" he cried as Shino twisted the knob of the shower and pulled Naruto out.

Shino then asked with curiosity, "How many paint chips did you eat while you were little?"

Naruto laughed a little bit and then turned a little serious, "W-why?"

(A/N: CONTEST! Whoever can name that movie reference first wins a Cyber Cookie and their name put into the next introduction. :D)

* * *

Naruto and Hinata quickly changed into dry clothes once they were finished cleaning off. And within the hour, they and the rest of their team were soon walking out and away from the town of Minato. Naruto noticed on his way out, that there was a bronze statue built and dedicated to the fourth Hokage himself, Minato Namikaze. Naruto stared at the giant, bronze figure as if he were hypnotized by it. Naruto gazed into the eyes of the lifeless figure with some strange sense of familiarity.

It was rather strange to him, whenever Naruto would look, or in this case, gaze into the face of the world-famous ninja. He felt as if he knew him or met him somehow or someway. Everytime he would question this strange feeling, he kept reminding himself that he must have gaze up at his face. Just as he was being taken away from his paternal mother and sealed into the destiny he never asked for. Naruto still respected the Yondiame Hokage even after he discovered that he had the Kyuubi sealed into him. Naruto had no idea and could not possibly fathom what it must have been like to be in the Hokage's place during that horrific night. He ultimately decided that it would not be fair if he hated the Namikaze for what he did. His last request was that the newborn Jinchuuriki should be respected as a hero. Even if his final request was never carried out, the fact of the matter was that he wanted him to be called a hero. That fact alone id the reason Naruto still does not hate the Yondiame Hokage.

He looked at the statue as he was passing by with his friends and smiled at the statue with a proud smirk. He soon quickened his pace and caught up with Hinata to talk some more. Before the town disappeared from sight, Naruto caught one last glance at the statue. He smirked one last time and thought to himself with Harry smiling with him,

'_Thank you, Yondiame-sama for the life you have given me. Thank you._'

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

**The random lyrics you saw earlier, believe it or not, are actually the lyrics I found that the woman who sang those random words in that song by Harry Gregson-Williams.**

**I'm sorry again everybody for the cliffhanger, I was having one of my rare evil moments. It happens to us all at one point or another. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed that mission because there are more mission chapters and training chapters to come!**

**Azeroth44**: Now our next mission for us, is what movie we are going to see this week in theaters!

**Kvsyaoran**: That's a good plan! We gotta figure that out with KoW360 and Al.

**Azeroth44**: Inception?

**Kvsyaoran**: I heard that was really good. But what about Dinner for Schmucks?

**Azeroth44**: I heard it was funny.

**Naruto**: How about Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow?

(Both authors look at each other)

**Kvsyaoran**: You mean the movie you stared in back in 2004 that we both have seen over 37 times?

**Naruto**: ….. Never mind….

**Azeroth44**: What'smatter with you?

**Kvsyaoran**: I think I wanna see Inception.

**Azeroth44**: But Dinner for Schmucks has Steve Carell and that dude from The Hangover…

**Kvsyaoran**: Oh well! We'll discuss this with Al and KoW360 when they show up. Care to help me make some chocolat fondant?

**Azeroth44**: LET'S GO!

**Naruto**: I get to lick the spoon!

See ya until next time everyone!

Review Please!


	12. A Lesson In Advanced Taijutsu

**Here we go everybody! The new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this, it's a little bit longer than my usual chapters so I hope you will be just as entertained. I don't have much of an introduction to give, so let's just dive back into the precious life of Naruto, shall we? **

**

* * *

**"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'Blah' : Naruto's Thoughts

'_**Blah' **_or _'Blah' _: Harry talking to Naruto/other people's thoughts

* * *

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

**

* * *

**Kakashi's Saturday off was _not _as relaxing as he had hoped it would be. In fact, it was quite nerve-wracking for him. He had been summoned to the Council Chamber yet again. When they could have called him down any other time after he was done with work. Once he had arrived, he was given a full update on his ex-student, Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke had been sent to the Land of Fire's National Ninja Rehabilitation Clinic several months ago. It was located on a large island several miles off the south-east coast of the Land of Fire. The facility was massive and held hundreds of people in dire need of isolation and mental/physical care. It wasn't considered an asylum, it was a respected Help-Center for those who are in desperate need of the care they provided.

The workers and therapists regularly brought in drug addicts and ninja with urgent help with personal ordeals. For someone like Sasuke, it was to help him let go of his anger and regain stability in his life. The area he was assigned to had a huge dormitory for girls and boys and he was given an entire room to himself. The Center also had a large training field for shinobi residents such as Sasuke and his dorm-mates. Most of the people in his dormitory were his age and were also ninja. Some of which were from Konoha like him.

Sasuke was regularly seen in this training field during the day, according to the first report Kakashi was given. And he was still training vigorously.

Kakashi had been given another detailed report by the Hokage, and was given information on Sasuke's mental and physical progress. Mentally; he was not yet sound. In fact, was still very violent and had to be restrained more than twice a day whenever he misbehaved. He was given therapy regularly, and had been consoled to vent out his frustration by exercising and training in the open fields of the Rehabilitation Center.

Kakashi knew deep down that Sasuke would never let go of his incorrect feelings toward his ex-teammate. Kakashi knew this kid all too well for him to sum that up. If Sasuke could hold a grudge against Itachi for this long, then surely he will hold a grudge just as fierce for Naruto. After all, Naruto was the person responsible for his failure to obtain greater and more terrifying power from the Snake-Sannin himself.

Kakashi was actually starting to grow more and more uneasy as he read the full report about Sasuke's behavior. He read about his violent outbursts and tendencies. How he would stay isolated and alone for hours on end, writing things his therapist told him to write down if he were angry. And he would write down some of the most provocative things about his brother and Naruto. He even drew violent pictures in black ink, depicting brutal and inhumane tortures being inflicted upon Naruto, Itachi, Sakura, and even Kakashi. Some of the drawings even made Kakashi feel a bit queasy just looking at them. But on a lighter note, his drawings became less violent and his wrathful fits of anger started to subdue in the past few months. But that didn't exactly stop Sasuke from thinking about his teammates being subjected to his disturbing imagination.

"Who needs Sasuke Uchiha on the team, when I could always ask for one of the cenobites." Kakashi thought out loud.

When he reached the end of the report, it was revealed that Sasuke had been pushing himself farther in his self-taught training. He had been gradually increasing his speed and strength. It was also reported that Sasuke was updating and changing his Ferocious Fist taijutsu and somehow improved his lightning techniques. Kakashi immediately face-palmed himself for the umpteenth time for these past four months. He had Sasuke copy and reflect Lee's taijutsu that entire month for the Exam Finals. And given the fact that he had been modifying the stances and practicing in it ritualistically was not a good sign at all.

Sasuke, Kakashi feared, was growing too powerful, too quickly.

Kakashi soon realized that Naruto would be in the greatest danger if he was not aware of this turn of events. He would have to start training him, and soon. If he wanted to protect Naruto from whatever techniques Sasuke had planned up his sleeve for when he would return.

* * *

_Konoha Barbeque Joint, Downtown _12:59 p.m.

"-And that is how you properly harvest radishes!" Choji ended with a proud smile as the entire group of Genin waited for their plates of barbequed meat to arrive.

Shikamaru, along with everyone else, looked incredibly bored and hungry, "That was riveting, Choji."

Choji smiled more, "I know! Right?"

"**Meh**." came the unison response out of everyone else.

"…Well, I thought it was cool…" Choji said offhandedly.

The smell of cooking meat filled the entire barbeque restaurant. Hot steam rolled out of the windows of the kitchen and flooded into the rest of the building in the form of a delectable, meaty scent mixed with various spices and sauces. The members of Team 10 were given a huge payments from their last mission. So they decided that they would share their wealth with the rest of their good friends and decided to get a barbeque lunch on their Saturday off. Everyone was now gathered at the largest table in the restaurant, waiting for their meal to finally arrive. The chefs were taking a full thirty minutes to cook up their order and everyone was soon getting hungry and irritable.

The doors of the restaurant rung open and a familiar voice made itself known. Ino looked over from the rest of the group and saw Kiba had finally arrived. He had to stay home and put his families dogs back into the kennel that morning and it took up until now for him to finish.

"Hey, Kiba's finally here." Ino pointed out.

Naruto pounded his fist onto to table with a thud and yelled, "Aw, crap!"

Most of Naruto's friends looked at him strangely.

"What? Are you and Kiba having a fight or something?" Hinata asked.

"No. Kiba learned about reverse-psychology." Naruto moaned.

Shikamaru looked uninterested and yet he asked, "So, what?"

"So, he's annoying now." Naruto answered.

Just then, Kiba rushed to the table and said excitedly, holding his hands out in a fit of excitement, "Hey you guys! Whatever you do, _**do not**_ give me your food when it comes!"

Naruto moaned and retreated into his jacket to bottle up his frustration. While everyone else looked bemused.

"The indigestion from _**all**_ that food, would hurt _**so bad**_, if you guys just _**gave me**_ all of your food _and_ your money!"

Naruto started making uninterpretable irritated noises from inside his jacket as he heard all of this.

Lee looked around before he said, "Okay then Kiba-kun, take a seat right here."

Kiba still stood up and said, "First, I have to go to the bathroom. Don't you guys try to put anything extra on my plate when I'm gone!" Kiba said with emphasis in his voice as if he were literally asking them to do it.

He soon turned around and strut to the bathroom with a skip in his step.

Choji looked around and then got excited after he had vanished, "Hey you guys," he whispered for the rest of the group to hear, "We should _freaking_ give him all our food and cash!"

"Choji, SHUT IT!" Naruto yelled through his jacket.

* * *

_The Next Day…_

The following morning was something to look forward to for Naruto. Sakura would be going to her new training program that her parents arranged. Today, she would probably be going to the hospital and start her first attending classes on medical ninjutsu, all being taught by Lady Tsunade herself. The Slug-Sannin was working at the hospital and was teaching ninja and kunoichi of all ages with the capabilities of learning the medicinal arts. Sakura would be learning, among many other people, how to focus her chakra and use the Mystical Palm Technique to heal her comrades on the battlefield.

Naruto was glad that he would not have to deal with her for the day. And he was very excited since Kakashi would be training him while Jiraiya was out of the village. Before he left Naruto a few weeks ago, he told him that he was running investigations on the Akatsuki and fulfilling missions for the Sandiame. Therefore, he left his training in Kakashi's capable hands. Sure, Naruto was a little upset that he wasn't spending anytime with his Uncle Jiraiya. But at least he would be spending his time with someone he liked.

He quickly got dressed in his usual outfit of a red t-shirt, olive-colored pants, and navy blue jacket. He then quickly made his way out of his apartment building and Apparated in the middle of his jump off the railing. Scaring several bigoted elderly civilians in the process.

* * *

_Godric's Hollow Graveyard by Alexandre Desplat  
_

He reappeared and landed on the hard earth of Training Ground Three. Naruto couldn't see Kakashi anywhere until he turned around to see his sensei in front of the Hero's Memorial. Kakashi was just standing there, staring at the names of the people he said he had lost in his life. Naruto then slowly approached him and stood next to him, looking at all of the names that were carved into the beautiful, shining black rock. Naruto saw the two names Hakoda and Kya Umino engraved with the rest of the people dated to have died on the fateful night of October 10th. Naruto inwardly cringed and felt slightly unworthy to gaze upon those two names.

'_**Don't worry… It wasn't your fault, Little one…'**_ Harry comforted Naruto.

Naruto looked away from Iruka's parents, and gazed upon a recently engraved name. A huge lump welled up in his throat at the sight of this particular name.

Hayate Gekko.

One of the best friends Naruto had ever known. Back in the days when Naruto was a small child, before he had met Harry, Naruto was taken care of by this particular young man. Hayate was one of the few people in Naruto's life that treated him with genuine kindness and unconditional love. When Naruto turned six years old, Hayate was forced to leave and return to his original genin team and the pair didn't see each other again for years. He and the boy eventually reunited after the preliminary matches of the Chunin Exams last year. Hayate had accidentally stumbled upon Naruto's secret (Naruto protecting them both with a Shield Charm) and was filled in on all the details and entrusted with the secret as Iruka was. Hayate had kept true to his word and during Kakashi's forced-abandonment, he began teaching Naruto the ways of the sword. Together, for most of the entire month; Naruto, Hayate, and Iruka spent almost each and every day together. Training, eating, laughing, joking, and occasionally smoke weed together. But all of the fun and happiness came to an abrupt halt when Hayate disappeared. Several days after his disappearance, Naruto found his corpse left behind in an alleyway. Naruto was left devastated by his death, but thanks to some support from Iruka and Iruka's girlfriend Anko, Naruto was able to move on.

Though, that didn't exactly help him when he found out that the person that killed him was Kabuto Yakushi. The traitor was not left unscathed, Hayate had given him a very ugly scar on his face before he was killed. Naruto practically let the fox take control of him when Kabuto revealed this to him and mocked Naruto, telling him that it was because of Naruto's intervention of Orochimaru's plans that led him to his death. The most Naruto was able to do to avenge poor Hayate, was that he too gave Kabuto another hideous facial scar with his own sword and burned Kabuto, combining his first successful Rasengan with the Patronus Charm.

Kabuto's words still digging in deep into his brain, Naruto felt the tears build up in his eyes at the sight of the kanji letters and was close to just sobbing right then and there. But he resisted it to a degree. Naruto wiped his eyes and breathed in through his nose, sucking his runny nose back up.

Naruto continued to lower his gaze and read the names of the ninja that had sacrificed their lives for the people of this village and were declared hero's. Naruto then noticed one particular name, the name that he noticed his sensei was currently staring at.

Obito Uchiha.

Naruto noticed that Kakashi looked at this name before when he first administered the team to the bell-test. It was the name he was exclusively looking at when he told Team 7 that his closest friends name's were engraved into that stone. It was actually some time after he was reading Obito's name the second time, did Naruto finally notice that Kakashi was resting his hand on his shoulder as he continued to look at his name. Naruto felt obliged and allowed his sensei to continue to lean on him lightly. Kakashi was smiling beneath his mask as he read his dear friend's name once more. He finally began to smile as he read Obito's name and he prayed silently.

'_Obito, this the student I have told you about… Naruto… He's a lot like you, you know… It's one of the reason I love keeping him around, even if he ever gets on my nerves sometimes… Out of the rest of my students, Naruto is pretty much the only one who is actually sane… You're nephew is an emotionally crippled narcissist with a bloodlust so powerful it would make little children cry upon looking at him. And Sakura is an anal-retentive train wreck that is steadily becoming more deadly to men everywhere. Quite frankly, those two students of mine scare me so much I may as well change my pants when I ever get nearby either of them…_'

Naruto knelt don to his knees and slowly withdrew his wand. Naruto waved it over the Hero's Memorial and whispered, "_Orchideous!_"

Kakashi stared as he saw his student successfully conjure a wreath of white roses. Naruto carefully placed them at the base of the grave and stood up as tears began to pour down his cheeks.

"_I'm so sorry, Haya-Hayate..._" he whispered.

Kakashi squeezed Naruto's shoulder affectionately, feeling incredibly guilty at doubting Naruto's bond to Hayate during his funeral.

He closed his eyes before he looked back at Obito, '_I'm not going to let this one go, Obito… I may have lost Sasuke before I even had a chance to help him, but I won't lose Naruto that easily… Now if you'll excuse me, I have to train him… Watch me, my dear friend…_'

Kakashi concluded his prayer and regained his place in real life.

* * *

"Good-morning, Naruto!" he said, backing away from the memorial.

Naruto now stood tall before his sensei, ready to learn what he had in store for him.

"Seeing as we are currently minus one student, I will be training you for the entire day, Naruto. I bet you were looking forward this moment for quite a while, huh?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto tilted his head to the left and gazed up into the sky dramatically.

"Sure. Once. But that, was a long time ago." Naruto said in an overly dramatic voice.

Kakashi chuckled, "Enough of the sarcasm kiddo, let's get started."

He then cleared his throat and prepared to inform Naruto of the Sasuke-Situation.

"Naruto, today we are going to begin your training. But first I must inform you to an important lecture- Don't give me that look!" Kakashi said out loud just as soon as Naruto rolled his eyes at the idea of a lecture.

Kakashi then stared at Naruto seriously, "Naruto, this information is _very_ important. And it involves some news on our _old-friend _Sasuke."

Naruto's ears perked up at the mention of his mortal enemy and he paid attention with one-hundred percent of his concentrated effort.

"Interested, _now_?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Naruto asked charismatically.

Kakashi sighed as he lifted his two fingers up to his own lips out of habit, "Here is the news; Sasuke is currently residing at the Rehabilitation Center. That much you know, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good. Then, you should know that Sasuke and the other shinobi residents are given a wide-spread of recreational land to exercise and train. They are _allowed_ to practice physical recreation and practice ninjutsu as they please." Kakashi explained.

"Oh-no!" Naruto moaned.

Kakashi nodded and continued, "That's right. With the time he spends there and the hours of practice he spends, chances are that Sasuke will be a much greater force to be reckoned with whenever he returns. His last reports indicated that he's already increased in strength and power. He is said to have been able to accomplish _four_ full Chidori thrusts a day. _I_ wasn't even able to perform that many when I was his age."

Naruto hung his head, "I'm pretty much screwed then, aren't I?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not necessarily Naruto. This is why I have called you here to train. I'm going to help you better defend yourself against Sasuke if he ever gets the chance to repeat his little mistake at the Valley of the End."

Naruto wasn't sure what kind of training Kakashi could possibly provide him that would help overcome Sasuke in a fight. The only reason Naruto even defeated him was by a fluke. Naruto had no idea that the Patronus Charm could even work on a person with the Curse Seal of Heaven. Naruto remembered how the pure energies of his happiest memories burnt off the layers of Sasuke's cursed gray skin like an onion. Naruto should have lost that fight, it was only pure luck that he managed to win.

"Now I know what you must be thinking, Naruto. You think that you might not be able to defeat Sasuke. Seeing as Jiraiya is too busy to help you out, and that Sasuke has had something of a head start with his Sharingan and all… But let me tell you something, having an ability such as the Sharingan will not always guarantee you a victory in every battle…"

"I know that, Kaka-sensei. The Sharingan is unable to copy jutsu's from another Kekkei Genkai. That's the only exception to the Sharingan. And that's one thing I don't have."

Kakashi walked over to Naruto and poked his forehead with his long index finger. Naruto twitched at the strange contacted and rubbed the spot he poked. And then Naruto's eyes widened when he realized that Kakashi was indicating to his lightning-shaped scar.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto realized.

Kakashi nodded, "Your magic is one thing that Sasuke is unable to ever duplicate. It technically counts as a Kekkei Genkai. But one thing that you don't know, is that there are other things that true Sharingan user _have_ never and _will_ never be able to learn."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Huh?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto's confused expression, '_I love it when he does that..._'

"Regardless of what you may think or know, Naruto, the Uchiha clan have been and still remain limited. No force on this earth is unlimited. All things have strengths and weaknesses. That is the way life works. Nothing can ever be truly unlimited." Kakashi said.

"It is true that they have the capabilities to learn and see through almost every form of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. But they are _incapable_ of learning or obtaining techniques from other kekkei genkai _and_ are also incapable of learning a small variety of certain special forms of techniques using their doujutsu."

Naruto looked very enthusiastic. He had always thought that the Uchiha clan could master all jutsu if they desired, "What exactly are you telling me, Kaka-sensei?"

"I'm telling you, Naruto, that I know a certain technique that _you_ can master, and Sasuke _can't_ with his old cheating habits."

Naruto's eyes opened considerably and he quickly became giddy with excitement. So much, in fact, that he was shaking. Clearly eager to get up and learn whatever Kakashi had in store.

"What technique is it?" he asked quickly.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask, "It's a style of taijutsu that my sensei developed over the years. He taught it to me, once I was one of the remaining members of my old squad, while I was still in the ANBU. It took me months of training for my body to adjust to it and master perfectly, but the results were worth it."

"How come Sasuke can't learn it himself, again?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi pointed his index finger upward as he elaborated, "This taijutsu style is way too complicated for his body to react to it, let alone memorize the patterns and copy it with his Sharingan. Sasuke relies on his doujutsu far too much. He doesn't learn anything through true experience and hard work, like you or I have."

Naruto smiled at Kakashi's compliment.

"He uses his Sharingan to analyze every aspect of his training. He copies something he has observed and then practices it later. Try to think of someone at public school who instead of writing his own material for a report, decides to copy and paste someone else's piece on that subject, only he just re-words certain sentences and key facts, and calls it his own. . . That's what he's done with my Chidori. I taught to him, so he could protect you and Sakura. But instead, he copied it, learned it, and tried to use it for the terrible things he has done and might plan to do!"

Naruto's smile disappeared and didn't say a thing as Kakashi went on his slightly angry rant. He backed away a little as Kakashi's words grew more and more intense. Obviously showing that he was still rightfully pissed off that Sasuke had abused his technique.

Kakashi cooled down and recollected himself.

"Anyway, the taijutsu style I'm going to try and teach you over the next few months requires a lot of circular foot and hand movements, that the Sharingan cannot analyze quick enough to comprehend, let alone copy. That's what makes it so difficult for an Uchiha to try and master. Even Minato-sensei regretfully told my teammate Obito that it was too complex for him to try to learn. The Uchiha clan _lack_ the physical prowess and flexibility to accomplish it, that's one thing you and I share in common when it comes to taijutsu. Natural physical capabilities."

Naruto starred attentively.

"I am able to accomplish it due to the White-Chakra that flows so quickly throughout my body. And you can master it due to your magic-blood and- Um…"

Kakashi really didn't want to talk down to Naruto about the Nine-Tails, so he quickly gestured to his own stomach and made a swirling movement with his finger.

"Oh!" Naruto realized. "So, what's this taijutsu called, sensei?" the blonde asked.

"Ba Gua." Kakashi stated simply.

(A/N: I'm not sure if I'm entirely spot on accurate in this specific type of martial art. I'm just trying to give myself more of a challenge in writing a fight scene. I hope that I'm somewhat accurate when it comes to his style of combat.)

He gestured Naruto to get up off the ground from his seat on the ground. Naruto now stood ready to take a hit as Kakashi began to demonstrate the smooth movements of the mysterious martial art. Kakashi had quickly summoned a clone of himself only he guised in all black clothes. Kakashi held his left arm out in front of him, while his right arm hung under his outstretched left arm. He had his clone pose a regular fighting stance as Kakashi slowly encircled his clone. His footsteps, Naruto noticed constantly switched positions as his teacher gracefully moved across the ground.

"This is also known as Circle-Walking Taijutsu. I'm going to warn you now, this style of taijutsu is not like any other form of taijutsu that is taught regularly in the village. It is very difficult to learn. It is a martial art that will, in time, enable you to exhaust and overwhelm many of your opponents."

"Exhaust and overwhelm?" Naruto asked.

"I got the idea to teach you this while I watched your fight with Kiba a while ago. I noticed how you were dodging him and waiting for him to get tired. After he was tired, you knocked him down and defeated him." Kakashi inquired.

"…Oh, yeah… I was just using common sense at the time, sensei…" Naruto said modestly while he blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"That's actually the reason I thought this up for you. The key to Ba Gua is to not let your opponent get a solid hold of you. You must work around and encircle your enemy, rather than strike out and hit them as hard as you can. It doesn't work that way. You must work around your opponent and simply out-maneuver them, until they grow tired. After you've accomplished that, you strike them down with full-force. And then-"

Kakashi's clone made many moves of basic taijutsu to knock him out, but Kakashi dodged with graceful flexibility practically like it was some sort of choreographed dance in an aggressive ballet. The original Kakashi flexed around and slammed his clone to the ground when it didn't expect it. The blow caused the dark copy to be slammed onto the ground and burst into white smoke.

"-Just like that. Your opponent is defeated." Kakashi said very coolly as he looked to Naruto in a glance to the side.

"Whoa…" Naruto awed quietly.

Kakashi then looked towards Naruto and offered him to approach him.

"To start you off, I will test you on how long you can hold out in a normal fight. To see if you are agile enough to learn this style... Get ready to attack me, Naruto. Approach me with the intent to kill if you must."

Naruto soon looked determined at the opportunity to spar with his sensei.

"Alright! Here I come!" he shout as he sprint forward.

Kakashi made no attempt to move out of the way, but instead stood a defensive stance and waited a few brief seconds for Naruto to rapidly approach him at speeds a little advanced for his age. Naruto threw the first blow with a right hook to Kakashi's side. Kakashi blocked it as Naruto made a smart move and grasped onto his wrist, grasping the cloth of his glove so he would not lose his grasp. Naruto tried to lunge his body weight and threw himself at Kakashi in the hopes that he would lose his balance and collapse on top of him. Kakashi managed to swiftly slip out of Naruto's tight grip and back himself away for more defense. Naruto landed his feet upon the sturdy ground and focused some chakra into the soles of his shoes and disappeared in a blur of color. Kakashi was shocked at his sudden disappearance but his advanced senses allowed him to sense where he would reappear and blocked the blonde's right fist from coming into contact with his face in a haymaker. The punch didn't actually feel like Naruto was putting that much effort into hitting him. Kakashi made a quick move to swiftly push him back to instruct him, but also to show him an example of the swift power of the taijutsu he was hoping to teach him.

"Naruto. You're not putting enough effort into hitting me, are you?" he called out.

Naruto shrugged and called back, "Well, I'm not exactly in the mood to kill you like I was a few months ago! If you asked me to have spared you then, I would have been more than happy to try and pummel ya!" Naruto answered honestly.

'_**That's so nice of you to say, Naruto…' **_Harry commented with a smile.

Kakashi sweat-dropped and thought for a second before he came up with an idea.

"Pretend that I betrayed you all over again!" he suggested.

"What do you think I've been trying to do, sensei? That doesn't work!" he yelled back.

Kakashi rubbed his temples and tried to think of something quick. He then got an idea he was absolutely sure that he would probably regret, but what else would royally piss Naruto off?

Kakashi yelled out with such reluctance, "Pretend I destroyed Ichiraku Ramen and threw away all of the world's supply of ramen noodles and English tea into the ocean to be eaten by parasites that look like Sasuke!"

Naruto's face suddenly turned livid and he roared out in a battle cry that almost sounded like a lion. Naruto suddenly forgot all logic or deceptive strategies that would have become useful to him and focused both his chakra and his magic into his shoes and sprint to Kakashi at speeds way too fast for even the jounin to comprehend. Naruto reappeared in front of him and drove his foot deep into his crotch.

Kakashi's eyes almost popped out of his sockets and he let out a high-pitched scream that echoed across a majority of the forest around them both. Causing birds to be frightened from the tress and fly away in a swarm.

"_How dare you threaten the two most precious items in my consumer life!_" Naruto roared.

Naruto did not hold back and started kicking him in the chest as his teacher screamed like a girl and clenched his privates. Harry soon started yelling for Naruto to stop.

'_**NARUTO! For the love of God, you're killing him! STOP!' **_

It took a split second for the blonde to get the picture and stop hurting his now fetal sensei.

Naruto quickly calmed down and horrifically realized what he had done to him.

"_Oh my God, sensei! _I am so _effing_ sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I am so sorry!"

Kakashi's eyes rolled up as squeaked out, "It's okay…I deserved that… for being an idiot… At least I can tell how powerful you are…"

'_Oh! My cash and prizes!_' he sobbed mentally.

* * *

Naruto helped carry Kakashi's heavy body from the ground and carefully had him sit down with his legs spread out on a soft patch of grass underneath one of the trees. Kakashi cupped his private area with both of his hands and tried his best to breath slowly and let the feeling in his testicular area to return. Although to him, it felt as if it would take an eternity for that to even happen.

Naruto moved quickly and summoned some water with his wand and turned it into ice for Kakashi to rest on his burning privates. All the while Kakashi moaned in pain as Naruto tried to apologize another three times. Kakashi held his finger to him lips to indicate for Naruto to be quiet. Naruto humbly sat down quietly and waited for Kakashi to recollect himself. Kakashi soon started breathing normally, and the pain in his groin lessened enough for him to start talking.

Kakashi coughed, and could have sworn that he tasted some of his own blood. He tried leaning upon the tree and then spoke with difficulty, "Well Naruto, if you can't beat Sasuke in a regular spar, you can always give him a nutcracker surprise…"

Kakashi and Naruto both chuckled. But Kakashi's laugh had to be cut short due to another pain wave that was making it's way to his private area.

"…The good news, is that I know how fast and strong you are in combat… Owie…" Kakashi moaned as Naruto looked more sorry, "…Your speed is perfect enough for you to be fast enough to learn Ba Gua. Your strength alone speaks for itself…Starting tomorrow… your training will begin…"

Naruto smiled at the fact that he was now approved for learning to master this new art of taijutsu.

"Alright! Sorry about your balls, sensei…" he added offhandedly.

Kakashi closed his eyes and simply said with an exasperated sigh, "It's okay, Naruto. I was the one who provoked you in the first place. This will conclude today's practice…Now, can you help me get to the hospital… I'm going to need an IV…"

* * *

The next day started bright and early for Naruto when he woke up at dawn. He finished his daily morning ritual and quickly got dress in his usual outfit and magically locked the door to his small home. All before he stopped at a vendor and grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast and then Apparated to the secluded training grounds.

Once Naruto arrived, he waited for Kakashi to show up. After the first thirty minutes of waiting, Naruto ultimately realized that Kakashi would probably be late this morning due to the unrelenting cruelty he unleashed onto his sensei's manhood. He remembered the previous day that he felt obligated and had to carry him all the way to the hospital. Thankfully, Naruto had very good connections with Tsunade and managed to convince her to heal Kakashi as a top priority. Once that was over with, and once the guilt began to fade away, Naruto felt pretty confidant that his sensei would be alright…and late.

Harry called Naruto to enter into his mindscape after the first forty minutes passed by. Naruto sat down with his legs crossed and put his hands together as he slowly closed his eyes. Naruto would usually be able to enter his mind under certain conditions. The first condition was when Naruto was rendered into REM sleep or unconscious. The second condition was when Naruto was forced within by some stressful or extreme emotional condition. And the most recently discovered condition was when Naruto meditated. Wherein he would force himself into entry simply using mental energy he drew out of relaxation and concentration.

Naruto soon materialized into the massive bedroom that belonged to Harry. There he stood ready for Naruto to fully substantiate before him.

Once he was finally there, Harry said, "While you're waiting for Cyclops to show up, how about we practice some new level spells?"

Naruto frowned at how Harry generalized his teacher but then became excited at the mention of learning new spells.

"What are you gonna teach me? Hair-loss spells? Jelly-Legs Jinx? Teach me how to tie up someone's tongue! I'm old enough now!" Naruto jumped up and down hyperactively as if he were six again.

Harry held his hands up and down and said, "Calm down, calm down, Little one! You're thirteen years old, start acting like it. We're going see if you are capable of learning wandless magic. If not that, we will brush you up on your basic combat training."

Naruto's head fell as he sighed. He followed Harry into the separate chamber on Harry's side of the mindscape. The second chamber contained a massive dojo-styled training chamber. This room, like all the others in the mindscape, had no visible ceiling. Except this room reflected the outside sky of the present time. Harry entered a complex circle in the direct center that had multiple circles within it. Each smaller circle representing a separate carving of each basic element of magic all engraved in Ancient Runes.

(A/N: It's the Merlin Circle)

Harry put his hands behind his back and faced his little brother.

"The key to performing wandless magic is similar to Occlumency training. It requires complete control over your emotions. You must first empty your mind of all emotion and focus your magical energy into the palm of your hand."

Harry held out his right hand and kept it open.

"Think of your arm as your wand. Focus the magic from within, up and out into your arm and out of the tiny center of your palm. The incantation can either be verbal or nonverbal. Since you have yet to learn to perform nonverbal spells, you will stick with using your words. No matter how bad you pronounce some of them" Harry teased, baring his teeth in a silly smile.

Naruto growled irritably in response.

"See! That's an example! Naruto, you must empty your mind, you know those steps. Let all hatred, sadness, confusion, anger, and everything else go for one brief second. Do not rely on any of your emotions to force the spell out, let it come to you naturally and let it flow…" Harry calmly advised.

Naruto closed his eyes and momentarily forgotten all of the past hatred he has felt for the ignorant villagers, the arrogant Sasuke, hateful Sakura, and everything else. He let go of his fear of the Akatsuki slip away from him in a moment of peaceful ignorance. He temporarily forgot all of the ties with the people whose hearts he had touched and they all faded away into nothing for one brief second. Naruto then focused his magic starting from the source of it all, his stomach. He concentrated the energies and felt them flow through his arm and come up to his hand. He remembered that Harry told him to focus it all on one set point and deeply focused the energy to start erupting from a single point at the center of his palm. If Naruto had his eyes open, he would have seen a column of greenish-blue smoke course out of Naruto's hand like a solar flare.

Harry then quickly told him to, "Stop!"

Naruto opened his eyes and kept asking, "What? What is it? Did I do it?"

Harry walked over to Naruto and said, "That was incredible, Naruto! That was so much better than I expected out of your first time trying! The only problem was that you were focusing too much magic to come out. I could see it was overflowing out of your hand like crazy."

Naruto looked at his hand and was surprised that he actually managed to perform the exercise.

"I did it?" he gasped.

Harry nodded but then shared his concern, "Yes, you did. But if you had performed a spell, the effects would have most likely have been highly destructive. If you had used a simple Knockback-Jinx it would have sent you soaring back at the force of the spell… You need to focus on accomplishing better, much more stable control…"

Naruto looked back to his palm in amazement. He had no idea he had such raw, destructive power.

"I understand that you'll most likely start practicing this on your own. But don't. This kind of magic is a little bit too big for your britches. You are only permitted to practice in this chamber under my careful supervision. Is that understood, Little one?" Harry asked strictly.

Naruto nodded, fully understanding how dangerous all that power could be. But then again, the kind of explosion he could cause would be more impressive than any of Naruto's Blasting Charms. Not to mention, it would be _a ton _of fun to see what would happen.

Harry suddenly perked up and yelled at Naruto, "You have your devious face on!"

Naruto quickly tried to hide his smile with difficulty.

"I don't know what your talking about!" he tried his best to hide.

"You're planning on doing something stupid! _I know it!_" Harry accusingly pointed.

"_I am not!_"Naruto teasingly retorted.

"Don't make me use Legilimens on you, kiddo!" he threatened playfully.

"_Nah!_"Naruto rebuked immaturely, while he stuck his tongue out.

"You're gonna get it!" Harry shouted, running out of the Merlin Circle and toward his little brother.

Naruto tried to run out of the room and out of the mindscape, but Harry tackled him to the ground and gave him a noogie before he could even escape.

"Confess! Confess!" Harry roared jokingly while he rubbed at Naruto's scalp.

"_Ahhhh!_ _Okay! I won't try it! I won't use it to set the Uchiha complex on fire!_" he screamed back and laughed.

Harry finally let him go and smiled, "I knew you were going to try that! _I knew it!_"

Before Naruto could even calm down enough to brush up on his new spells, Kakashi must have arrived. Since Naruto currently felt as if someone invisible were poking his head. Naruto tried to ignore it, but soon he felt as if the invisible person were shaking him. Soon, Naruto began to disappear in front of Harry and fade back into reality.

Naruto soon gasped as he felt himself reawaken in the presence of his sensei.

"Wow! Now _that_ was some serious commitment to concentration, Naruto…" he said, surprised that Naruto managed to meditate with such determination.

* * *

_Becoming One of "The People" by James Horner_

Naruto and Kakashi stood across from each other. They went through a very long session of the first and most basic movements to accomplish Ba Gua. Kakashi had Naruto memorize the multiple foot movements that enabled him to move around his opponent so smoothly. It took awhile for Naruto to get them right, but he managed to get the footwork down within the first half-hour.

Next, Kakashi had Naruto go through several waving motions and movements with his arms while he continuously rehearsed his foot movements. Naruto had to visualize him himself escaping the grasp and move around his non-existent opponent. He typically held his left arm close to his chest while he commonly thrusted his right arm for offensive strikes and for pulling out of his opponents hold. It took another thirty minutes just to get two of the first movements down. Naruto soon went through the swings and swipes once more, occasionally switching his offensive and defensive arms everytime he faced his invisible target differently.

Kakashi then taught Naruto to focus chakra into his feet. And instead of using it only to increase his speed, Naruto had him basically keep his feet planted to the ground, like he did with the Tree-Climbing Practice in the Land of Waves. With his feet focused to the ground like that, his feet were basically like the heavy treads of a huge truck. This was important for Naruto in case he was in an environment that had terrains that could cause him to fall over. With enough focus on his feet, anything that is caught in his foot-path would be thrashed out of his way without natural interference.

Naruto still had yet to memorize his foot patterns until he didn't have to think about them while he used his arms to fight. Kakashi would occasionally stop him and have him repeat certain movements until he got them right. He carefully made sure that Naruto would not advance until he fully took in every aspect of the movements he taught him.

* * *

The taijutsu training took up the rest of the entire day. Kakashi didn't stop sparing and carefully instructing Naruto until the sky turned deep orange in color. It was only then, and when both ninja, both student and teacher were dirty and dripping wet with sweat. Kakashi looked over to Naruto and asked him, "Naruto! What time is it?"

Naruto wiped away some dirt from his wristwatch and read, "Ten minutes 'til eight!" he called back to his sensei.

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "Then I guess that's enough for today…"

Naruto soon found his jacket and wrapped the sleeves around his waist. Kakashi grabbed his Jounin flak jacket and threw it back on without zipping it back up. Naruto and Kakashi then started walking out of the training ground and closed the high fenced area and locked it for the night. They both turned around and lazily walked up the path back to the village.

While they walked through the village, several villagers and fellow ninja took second glances at the pair. Noticing that they were both absolutely filthy with dirt and grass stains. Several villagers whispered to their companions and one or two of them rushed away. Other normal civilians tried to snap a picture of Naruto using their camera phones while he walked by. They quickly stopped bothering them when Kakashi gave the gathering paparazzi a nasty death-glare, causing them to run away from the famous Copy-Nin fearfully.

Satisfied, Naruto and his teacher walked off toward the restaurant district of town. Both of them hadn't had a bite to eat since breakfast. Not the best idea to not eat lunch that day.

The pair walked down to Ichiraku Ramen, neither one of them thought to say anything to the other both wanting nothing more than good ramen in their stomach's. Kakashi pulled back the curtain of the restaurant and let the overpowering aroma of cooking noodles fill his sensitive nose and cause his mouth to water. Naruto took in a deep breath and a whiff of the heavenly smell and sighed.

"Well, look who it is, Iruka!" called out the voice of Teuchi Ichiraku.

Naruto and Kakashi both looked up to see Iruka also clearly dirty from a mission he was on that day. He was already sitting down at a stool, about to order a bowl of ramen for himself. He smiled when he saw the two come in and asked with a laugh, "What the hell happened to you two?"

Naruto quickened his pace as he sat down in the stool next to him and spun around upon sitting, "Kakashi-sensei is teaching me advanced taijutsu!" he said, somehow summoning up more energy into talking.

Iruka looked at Kakashi and said while he gave him a look of approval, "Are you now?"

Kakashi eye-smiled and sat down next to Naruto, "He's a slow learner, but he's got the basics down… Actually, I'll give you more credit than that, you're actually a little bit further than I was when I got the basics down. It took me three days to get to where you are now…"

'_**Hell yes, bitch.'**_ Harry said to himself.

Iruka raised one of his eyebrows, "Really? You're kidding…"

Kakashi shrugged, "It's the truth."

Iruka grabbed one of Naruto's shoulder's lightly in a gesture of proud accomplishment.

"There you go, buddy! You're on a roll!" he said proudly.

Naruto smiled, "Who knew that thirteen is the new twenty?"

Kakashi's stomach growled loudly, and grabbed a menu that lay nearby, "Alright! I'll get a medium-sized bowl of…how about Saury-flavored ramen? That sounds good…!" he said with some excitement in his voice.

Naruto and Iruka didn't look at the menu, they both knew exactly what they wanted.

"_Miso-Chicken with a pinch of spice, please!_" Naruto and Iruka said in unison together.

Ayame wrote down their orders and asked, "Large or medium?"

"_Large!_" they both answered.

Ayame smiled and said, "Comin' right up! Dad! Two usual Umino-Uzumaki bowls and one medium Saury-flavor for the handsome gentleman."

Kakashi blushed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment while Iruka and Naruto laughed.

"Looks like Kakashi's got a secret admirer! Huh, Naruto?" Iruka laughed.

"How many does that make for a man with probably one testicle?" Naruto joked back.

Kakashi gave both of them death-glares.

"Naruto, if you weren't my student, you would be dead. Iruka, if you weren't a friend, you would be clenching _your_ crotch and rolling on the ground in pain." he said with a low growl.

Iruka looked shocked, "Wow…I'm a friend of Kakashi Hatake… I feel so _honored_…"

Naruto laughed, "We're just having a laugh, Kaka-sensei!"

Kakashi grasped Naruto's shoulder tightly, and said to Naruto in a terrifyingly sweet voice, "But I thought we both agreed that we would never bring that up in public. _Remember_?"

Naruto paled slightly, "Right. Sorry."

Kakashi went back to looking back into the kitchen and tried to get his mind off of his previously injured manhood.

* * *

When their order's finally came in, the three males were about to dig into their delectable meal slowly. Both Naruto and Iruka waited for Kakashi to eat first. They both were hoping to see what he truly hid behind that mysterious mask of his. Kakashi pulled out some chop-sticks and then _slowly_ reached his fingers to his mask to pull it down to reveal his face and eat his eagerly awaited noodles. Iruka hung his hands on top of Naruto's shoulders, trying to get a look. When he had reached his apartment after his pep-talk with Kakashi about Naruto, he realized that he did actually take a drink with him pulling his mask down in the process. When this finally hit him, and he realized that he missed a golden opportunity to see his face, Iruka roared out the f-word at the top of his lungs.

Naruto stared so intently at his sensei while he gripped Iruka's hands with shared anticipation. So much, in fact, that it felt as if everything around him had decided to move in slow-motion. Naruto tried his very best to be patient.

Naruto and Iruka held their breath together as Kakashi began to pull down his mask. He had pulled the dark cloth almost half-way down his nose, when suddenly Sakura appeared out of nowhere and said loudly towards Kakashi, "Hello, Kakashi-sensei! Medical ninjutsu training is going great!"

"_You BEAVER-FACE_!" Naruto roared at her angrily for obscuring their view.

'_That little bitch!'_ Iruka yelled in his head as his eyes turned round, white, and livid with anger.

'_**Mother-f**ker!'**_ Harry yelled in frustration, for he was also watching through Naruto's view.

Sakura hovered over Kakashi long enough for him to finish his meal in a flash. Once finished, Sakura moved out of the way of the two currently seething males and smiled back at them sweetly.

"Just wanted to say hi to sensei! Bye-bye, boys!" she said with her up-beat, high soprano voice.

Sakura then skipped out and away from the restaurant, squealing at the fact that she got to see Kakashi's face before Naruto. Naruto and Iruka both shook with anger when they realized Kakashi had finished eating and pulled his mask back up.

"Ahh~ That was so~ _good!_"Kakashi sighed in sweet satisfaction. Kakashi took his mind off of his empty bowl and looked at the pair of brothers seething at the retreating Sakura.

Clearly confused, he asked them both, "Was that just Sakura who was hovering over me while I ate?"

Naruto kept starring at the place she vanished and said, "I _hate_ that girl…"

"…Me too, Naruto… Me too…" Iruka growled with him.

Kakashi looked even more confused, "I'm confused…"

* * *

_Lost Wings by Yuki Kajiura _

The trio of boys ultimately decided, once they were all finished with one more bowl of ramen each, that the day was pretty much over for them. And they were all tired and wanted nothing more than a good-night's sleep.

"Now, Naruto. Make sure you get some good sleep and let your muscles fully relax before it's lights out. You have to stay limber for tomorrow's training, got it?" Kakashi checked before he was the first one to leave after he paid for his two bowls.

Naruto nodded tiredly and almost fell off of his stool, he was so exhausted. Iruka didn't even think and instinctively caught Naruto right before he started to lean too far off of the chair. He hunched the blonde wizard on his back and withdrew some money out of his wallet and onto the counter. He was more than willingly pay for the two of them.

Kakashi sighed and reached into his pocket for the spare key he kept with him and offered it to Iruka, "Here. His apartment is probably locked so you'll need this to get in." Kakashi offered.

Iruka shook his head and smiled, "Nah. Naruto can just bunk over at my place for the night. He has a pair of night and day clothes he keeps at my place when he stays with me. I'll be fine with this little bundle of joy."

Kakashi put the key back in his pocket and nodded, "Are you sure it's fine with the little rascal?"

Iruka nudged Naruto's cheek over his shoulder and asked, "Naruto, are you fine with crashing at my place tonight?"

Naruto gave a small, lazy noise of approval and smiled as he buried his face into the clothing on Iruka's back. Absolutely too tired to actually say anything.

Iruka nodded and smiled, "There you have it, Kakashi. We're good!"

Kakashi let the pair exit Ichiraku's first out of respect and watched as Iruka carried his little brother in a piggy-back ride. He smiled as he pulled out his Icha-Icha Paradise and read all the way back to his own humble home.

* * *

Iruka carried Naruto all the way back to his apartment with no difficulty. Once inside, he carefully laid him down on his sofa. Iruka looked down at the sleeping blonde and smiled warmly. He chuckled to himself when he remembered the day Naruto first learned to Apparate. He remembered how frightened he was when Naruto suddenly popped up right in front of him, while he was reading on this very same sofa. He was taken by such surprise, he accidentally fell backwards and off of the couch.

He shook his head at the memory and went to his bedroom and rolled out the comfortable reclinable bed for Naruto to sleep in. Iruka still didn't have another bed to put in his guest bedroom, so the reclinable was all he had to settle for when Naruto stayed over.

Iruka soon remembered that he stunk of sweat and grime and so did Naruto. He then moved back into the living room and woke Naruto up enough for him to take a shower first while Iruka would grab his and Naruto clothes for the night.

"Naruto, make sure you don't fall asleep in the shower like last time!" He reminded as he saw Naruto walk into the restroom like a zombie.

"Mmm!" was all he heard from Naruto before he shut the door and the sound of running water was heard.

Iruka only opened the bathroom door to lay Naruto's clothes at the base of the door and made sure he closed his eyes out of respect of privacy. Five minutes later, Naruto was done and fully dressed in his pajamas and collapsed onto his bed next to Iruka's. The older man entered his bathroom with _his_ set of clothes and tended to his nightly cleansing ritual.

Once finished and fully clean of sweat, and what can be accurately described as dirt, Iruka exited his bathroom smelling like strawberries and had his hair down and free of his usual ponytail. He smoothly walked back to his bedroom and turned off every light he had on along the way. He closed his door and walked over to his sleeping little brother and threw a blanket over him for warmth. He tucked him in, just like his mother used to for him and pecked his scarred forehead out of tender affection. Iruka then turned out his bedside lamp and buried himself into his own covers and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Elsewhere, while the village was beginning to slowly shut down and fall sleep for the night. Tsunade was just punching out and leaving the hospital from her twelve-hour shift.

She walked down the streets and slowly made her way back home to the Senju Family Estate, where she lived with Shizune. She only stopped when she came across a familiar chakra signature and ran into a gigantically tall man wearing a big, black ANBU cloak on top of his shinobi-issue armour and had very long and spiky white-hair.

"Hey, Jiraiya…" Tsunade greeted her old-time friend.

Jiraiya gave her a half-hearted smile as he lifted his ANBU mask and revealed himself, "Hey."

Tsunade looked down at the ground as she rested her hands into her pockets, "Have you had any luck yet with our favorite nephew?"

Jiraiya frowned and looked up towards the stars, "No… Sarutobi-sensei has been keeping me too busy… I haven't even talked to him for weeks…"

Tsunade hesitated before she finally chose the right words to say to her friend.

"You know that Sarutobi needs you for these missions… And he's also trying to help Naruto as best as he can… That's what we both want for his sake, Jiraiya…"

Jiraiya nodded, before he put his mask back up and started walking back to the Hokage Tower to report back in.

Tsunade sighed and continued on with her walk, looking forward to chugging down a giant bottle of sake whenever she got home.

* * *

_Hokage Tower, 1:29 a.m._

The Hokage's office was so eerily quiet that night, as Sarutobi patiently awaited the ANBU to report in their late-night mission's. One in particular, he waited for longer than usual. Jiraiya was supposed to report in to him and inform the Hokage of the news he had been gathering on the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. He sighed as he heard the door of his large office slowly swing open and revealed the tall Toad Sannin himself.

"There you are Jiraiya, my old student. What have you to report?" asked the tired Hokage.

Jiraiya walked over and dropped his reports on his desk, sighing heavily, "Thankfully, the Akatsuki have apparently decided that they will have to stay back and hide out in the dark for a while. Since they know that we are on to them."

Sarutobi looked serious, "How much time do you think we have before they decide to quit hiding?"

Jiraiya informed, "I'm not entirely sure. But I think it's safe to assume that we can remain blissful for about two, maybe three years, give or take."

Sarutobi nodded, "How is your progress on our friends Kabuto and Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya turned away to look at the nighttime sky, "Orochimaru has been suspiciously quiet lately… I would have expected a dramatic retaliation from him ever since he lost his chance to obtain the Sharingan… He must be planning something just like our friends from the Akatsuki…"

Sarutobi took a lungful of his pipe smoke and exhaled before saying, "…Keep your spy network running. Find any sight of and obtain any information you can of any of Orochimaru's minions. You know that he never dirties his hands when he is planning something delicate…"

Jiraiya nodded and then turned away towards the door. He stopped and his eyes became shadowed in the dark. He then spoke in a calm but heavy voice, "How is Naruto going along with his training?"

Sarutobi clunked out some of the used tobacco in his pipe and replaced it with new tobacco before relighting it with a tiny flame on the end of his finger.

"…Kakashi says he still has room for a lot of improvement. He is planning on trying to teach him the ways of staff combat, I believe… He will also continue Naruto's formal sword training... Depending on what he feels is right." he informed simply.

Jiraiya did not appear to be happy about this news, as his large hands were soon balled into tight fists and shook angrily.

Jiraiya started, "You know, you can't keep him away from me forever, sensei… He is my child now and-"

"You've had thirteen years to consider that poor boy as your child…to so much as talk to him, meet him if you didn't have the cowardice…" Sarutobi interrupted with a low growl in his aged voice, "We have discussed this before, Jiraiya. This conversation no longer holds any purpose. Please, leave now. You have another reconnaissance mission tomorrow morning."

Jiraiya left the office calmly, but he did manage to slam the door way too hard with his monstrous strength. That caused several of the Sandiame's silver instruments and scrolls to fall out of their shelves and come crashing to the ground in loud shatters and thuds. Sarutobi sighed and noticed that Jiraiya had broken the door off of it's hinges once more.

'_What am I going to do?_'

* * *

_To Be Continued_

_

* * *

_**There you go, people! The beginning of the training! I had some action, a little bit of classic ballsy comedy in there, and some Harry/Naruto Kakashi/Naruto, and Iruka/Naruto bonding. I wanted to do something like that, because I am just a fool for Iruka spending time with Naruto and acting silly along with him. Lol! Iruka, believe it or not, reminds me of Sokka from Avatar, so I thought I could make Iruka act more silly and be a goofball like his favorite little blonde brother/son.**

**Azeroth44: **…

**Kvsyaoran: **…Azeroth44?

**Azeroth44: **…

**Kvsyaoran: **Naruto! Where the hell is Azeroth44?

**Naruto: **I think he left two days ago for his family's summer vacation…

**Kvsyaoran: **What? You gotta be kidding me!

**Naruto: **He left behind a note for us. Here.

**Kvsyaoran: **It says; _'Ha! Ha! Ha! You're not on vacation! You already had yours for this summer!'_

**Naruto: **Prick.

**Kvsyaoran: **Oh, he is DEAD!

**Naruto: **How about you get your mind off of it and write an Omake about the dream I'm having in this chapter?

**Kvsyaoran: **Eh? Why not?

* * *

**Here you go ladies and gentlemen! A dream induced by Iruka's kind, tenderness towards little Naruto!**

That night, Naruto dreamt of pleasant dreams of him and his friends being at Sea World and Iruka was one of the dolphin trainers. Everyone was in the crowd as they watched Iruka have the dolphins and Orcas perform stunning tricks at the tan-man's command. It was so much more amusing than his old history lectures, that was for sure.

Then, Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and foolishly made his way to the top of the edge of the enormous water tank. Naruto watched intently as he and his friends noticed this but then turned to Iruka to have the water mammals perform more stunts.

Iruka called over with an enhanced voice, "I have one more trick with the orcas, ladies and gentlemen!"

Everyone cheered and begged for Iruka to go on and entertain them all.

Iruka then pulled out a walky-talky and said quietly, "Wait for it…Wait for it…"

Sasuke edged closer to the tank to get a better glimpse of the mammals and stared insulting them randomly like some kind of crazy person.

"The lobster is in the pot! Willy! Devour! Devour!" Iruka called into the communication device.

Then, one of the Orcas jumped out of the water and ripped off one of Sasuke's arms, causing him to scream painfully. The rest of the dolphins soon jumped out of the water and dragged Sasuke's body into the watery depths of the giant tank.

"Save us all a limb, guys…" Iruka talked into the walky-talky.

In reality, Naruto smiled so sweetly as he slept.

* * *

End.

* * *

**Review Please!**


	13. Juuken With Hinata

**Okay then, guys! I have a few VERY important announcements I would like to make! First, I apologize for taking SOOO long to post this chapter, I've been busy with school and another fanfic I'm working on. It's also my senior year, and I have to make homework and studying my top priority. But, I haven't forgotten you readers and this story. I'm using what free time I have (not doing homework) to get some writing done on it.**

**I would also like to announce that I am currently writing the four prequel books of the Naruto Uzumaki series.**

**In case you guys did not check my other story post, I am writing the fifth book in the series right now. I would have liked to have started from the very first book chronologically, but it was a spur of the moment when I wanted to just start writing. I got too excited and wrote the fifth book first.**

**I've been working on writing the first four books I intended to write. I just got ahead of myself and started with the fifth book as I said.**

**In case you're interested, here are the names of the books in chronological order:**

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Scroll of Sealing**

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Assassin of the Mist**

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Chunin Exams**

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Legendary Sannin**

**I'm currently finishing the Chunin Exams. Next I will work on the Scroll of Sealing(the shortest book in the series), Assassin of the Mist, and then the Legendary Sannin.**

**So I might take a little bit of time writing the Dark Path of Shinobi.**

**I decided to start writing the prequels because I totally forgot to mention that Hayate was an important character in the third book. That's the real reason why Naruto had a moment while looking at his name on the memorial stone. I might re-write that chapter once I have reached that part of the in the third book. I couldn't believe that I forgot to mention that Hayate was one of the very important characters in the series!**

**I will also make some corrections to the first five or so chapters of Dark Path of Shinobi in order to match the previous and future books.**

**ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**In the meantime, I have been having some decision troubles. And I'm curious to muse into the opinions of others. I have been wondering if Naruto should or should not come across and keep a magical creature as a pet.**

**Which of these following creatures shall it be?**

**You guys have three choices:**

**Hippogriff**

**Unicorn (Lol! I can imagine Naruto riding one and say, "If you want to know the secret of being…you will come with us…" -NPH)**

**Owl**

**Which ever one of these gets the most votes before chapter twenty's release, wins!**

**That's all I got! I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

"Blah" : Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_' : Naruto's Thoughts

'_**Blah' **_or _'Blah' _: Harry talking to Naruto/other people's thoughts

* * *

**Reviews are welcome and wanted!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

**

* * *

**

Kakashi relaxed as he sat down under the shade of a nearby tree. He took sips of his Jasmine tea while he read his new volume of Icha-Icha Paradise, he also kept a careful eye on his student. Naruto was still struggling trying to master newly learned and more advanced levels of Ba Gua taijutsu. Naruto still couldn't get the foot movements right and would end up tripping over his own feet.

This has been going on for two weeks and Naruto was still nowhere close to getting it right. Naruto had troubles with keeping his temper in check because he would quickly grow frustrated everytime he would bump into his own feet. He even started swearing everytime he would trip. It wasn't long before Naruto would start moving more aggressively. It was there that Kakashi would stop him.

Naruto tried working around the practice dummy, keeping his left hand on the spine of the target while keeping his right arm under his left. He steadily but quickly moved around the dummy and keeping his hand in contact with the hard wooden surface. He then swished his right arm out from under his defensive left arm and struck the dummy hard. He still kept moving around the post, keeping his foot patterns in check. He switched his hands creating a graceful swinging movement in the process while he spun around and struck the wood once more. He ran forward towards the dummy and kicked off of the flat surface making a tiny crunching sound. Naruto was about to move around it once more and try the advanced set of move Kakashi showed him but had tripped once more before he could even enable them.

"ARGH!"

Kakashi got off the ground from his tea and Icha-Icha Paradise and walked up to the infuriated Naruto.

"Naruto! You're still not doing it right. You are not getting into the _flow _of the movements. You lack the relaxation. The looseness of the movements. You should not have to strain your muscles as you enact your foot patterns. Let it come to you. Don't force it."

Naruto sighed, "I'm trying my best."

Kakashi put his finger to his chin and thought to himself for a while.

'_Naruto needs to relax his muscles and feel more of a flow of motion rather than an aggressive force… But what could help him better relax his motions and get him into the flow better…? Think, Kakashi! Think!_'

After he couldn't think of anything, he had Naruto repeat his exercises and had him stop for the day, after he saw that Naruto landed his head on a rock and almost knocked himself out.

* * *

_Hogwarts Neutral by Jeremy Soule_

Kakashi walked down the street and kept reminiscing on how he could possibly help his student. He entered the Jounin lounge inside of the Administration building where his fellow jounin were already sitting down and talking. Kakashi walked passed Izumo and Kotetsu who were both competing on who can chug down the most syrup making anyone who gazed at their activity feel sick. He passed by Anko, who was currently writing down some mission reports that were overdue. Kakashi collapsed onto his favorite chair and moaned. Asuma was sitting right in front of him on his favorite chair. He looked up from a newspaper he was reading and glanced at Kakashi for a brief second before going back to reading and asked, "Your student kick you in the balls again?"

Kakashi glared at Asuma and said, "Oh, shut up, Asuma."

Asuma chuckled and said, "Seriously, I wouldn't have guessed that you of all people would be defeated by one of your kids with the old Nutcracker-Surprise! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Guy leaned forward in his chair and asked, "What has you troubled, my Eternal Rival?"

Kakashi sighed, "It's Naruto. His taijutsu training isn't progressing any further…"

Guy then stood up on top of his chair and announced, "I WILL-!"

"The answer is NO, Guy!" Kakashi said loudly forcing the enthusiastic jounin back down to his seat, "I appreciate the offer of you giving him _your_ method of taijutsu training. But he's my student and I owe it to him… Plus, I think you might accidentally kill him in the process. He can bruise easily…"

Guy looked a little upset at the fact that would not be taking on another disciple.

"Well, then what's the problem, Kakashi? Is he not building up enough strength?" Guy asked.

Asuma suddenly said without looking away from his paper, "Oh-no. You can just ask Kakashi's balls. I'm pretty sure they can inform you on Naruto's strength level."

"SHUT UP, ASUMA!" Kakashi yelled.

Asuma laughed whole-heartedly, "Get's me everytime!"

Kakashi soon stopped boiling and fuming at Asuma and turned back to Guy, "But anyway, Naruto is not relaxed enough to perform the techniques I'm teaching him. He strains himself too much and ends up falling on his butt."

Guy looked amused and curious. He then asked, "What style of taijutsu are you teaching him anyway, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked around for a split second and then whispered into Guy's ear too quiet for anyone else to hear. Guy's eyes quickly widened and he yelled, "You're teaching him-!"

Kakashi quickly covered his big mouth and quieted him down, causing the other ninja to stare. Kakashi just shook his head at the audience and said that there was nothing wrong and that everything was fine.

Kakashi then hushed, "Yes! I'm teaching him that technique! I owe it to him for all the time I've been neglecting him, Guy…"

Guy still looked very taken back, "I'm glad that you are giving him the attention he deserves. But that technique is still _very_ advanced. Are you sure you didn't have him bite off more than he can chew?"

Kakashi shrugged, "He's already got the basic foot movements down almost perfectly. Why stop now?"

Guy's caterpillar eyebrows raised higher than usual and he smiled, "He's already made it that far?"

Kakashi smiled, "Yeah! He's a natural talent, Guy. It's almost like he was meant to learn it one day… But he still can't relax his muscles enough to progress any further."

Kurenai sat down next to the two men, "Sorry, I don't mean to bother you boys, but what's going on?"

Asuma answered, "Kakashi got his balls kicked, again."

"I SWEAR TO GOD! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR NOSE OFF YOUR FACE!" Kakashi roared and launched himself at Asuma.

Everybody laughed or giggled along with Asuma at Kakashi's outrageous reaction. Guy soon caught wind of himself and briefly explained to Kurenai,

"Kakashi is teaching Naruto some advanced taijutsu. The only problem is that Naruto is too stressful and cannot enact the proper movements. So now he's at a dead end in his training."

Kurenai looked up in thought and asked, "Then why not have him take a break and practice more relaxing martial arts?"

Kakashi stopped choking Asuma and shaking him, and perked up his ears at what the young woman said.

"Huh?" Kakashi asked while he still clenched Asuma's throat.

"Put him down, Kakashi! And listen like a good boy."

Kurenai talked down to Kakashi.

He humbly obeyed and let Asuma down on his chair and continue to laugh, despite having his breathing briefly obscured. Kakashi sat down on his seat and listened like a loyal hound. With his invisible tail in between his legs.

"If you want Naruto to limber up his muscles, then why not have him practice different taijutsu, for a while, that will help him do so." Kurenai lectured as she held her index finger up.

"What style of taijutsu do you think will do, Kurenai?" Kakashi asked.

Kurenai smirked, "Hyuga-style taijutsu."

Kakashi looked surprised, "_Juuken_? PFT! But, that can't be done. Plus, it's not possible."

Kurenai quickly replied, "_True_, Naruto can never actually _use_ Juuken combat. It's physically impossible to use it like the rest of the Hyuga Clan unless you are a member of said clan. The Hyuga clan is the only clan that can release their chakra in a combination of taijutsu. But, you can have Naruto practice some of the _physical_ exercises with Neji or Hinata, purely for recreational uses."

Kakashi looked dumb-founded, he then said sarcastically, "I'm pretty sure that Hiashi Hyuga would be absolutely _dandy_ about having an _outsider_ learning the secrets of his clan, Kurenai."

Kurenai rolled her eyes and said, "No one outside of the clan can actually _use_ Juuken. But I'm sure Hiashi wouldn't mind Naruto learning a few recreational movements. If Naruto were to do Hyuga-style, it's-it's practically like taking a tai-chi class downtown." she explained carefully.

"Then, why not have Naruto practice tai-chi downtown, then?" Kakashi questioned.

Kurenai looked a little uneasy, "I don't think Naruto would want to attend a class comprised entirely of pregnant women."

Kakashi looked to the side and said, "Good point. But still, I highly _doubt_ someone like _Hiashi Hyuga_ would _ever_ let anyone in on his clan's secrets."

Kurenai shrugged, "What secrets could he possibly obtain? Kiba and Shino watch her practice at her clan's complex all the time. And I never heard Hiashi never approving of it."

Asuma giggled to himself, "Hee-hee! _Watch her practice_!"

Kurenai threw a tissue box at his head in response, "Oww!"

"Anyway, I'm sure if you explain to Hiashi-san about your situation, then he might approve of it. So long as you tell him that it is only to help your student's training progress. And make sure you tell him that it's purely for recreation. If that doesn't work, then try to throw in that the Yondiame would have done it for Naruto or something. After all, Hiashi was practically best friends with Minato Namikaze. Isn't that right?" Kurenai reasoned.

Kakashi looked amused, "Do you really think that might work? Because that is asking a lot from him. Not to mention, he's one of those 'leaders who care about nothing but for what's best for their clan, or as I like to called him a L.W.C.A.N.B.F.W.B.F.T.C for short."

"Or a Fugaku Uchiha?" Guy recommended.

Kurenai shook her head, "Enough with the generalizations! The point is that Hiashi is not as stuck up a person as he always appears to be."

Kakashi chuckled, "Oh now, that's just a lie."

But Kurenai winked at him and said, "Go and ask him, Kakashi. And find out for yourself."

She then got up and said, "Asuma, let's go!"

Asuma sighed and took a deep breath from his cigarette before budding it out in the ashtray next to his abandoned newspaper titled, _Youth In Revolt? _He got up from his comfortable seat and left with Kurenai, side by side.

Kakashi watch them as they disappeared and said to Guy, "Oh, they are totally doing each other."

Izumo and Kotetsu both said together in unison, "Oh yeah, they're totally gay for each other."

* * *

_Exactly twenty-five minutes later…_

"No. Absolutely not, Kakashi." Stated Hiashi Hyuga.

Kakashi was sitting down patiently on one of the many comfy chairs that stood in the confines of Hiashi enormous office. Kakashi couldn't hear Hiashi's clearly stated answer and found himself too preoccupied with the grandness of Hiashi's office.

"Did you hear what I said, Kakashi-san?" Hiashi questioned.

Kakashi, again, was too busy examining the Hyuga head's heavily polished oak-wood desk. Hiashi also had a large amount of space and a variety of different chairs laying around, each of them were decorated differently and somehow matched the offices brown and beige color. He also took into account that the office could hold almost the entire Akimichi clan. This office was simply enormous.

"Kakashi are you even listening to me?" Hiashi demanded.

Kakashi nodded his head and said, "Hold on, I gotta sit in another chair…"

Kakashi lifted his body up quickly and sat down in the chair next to the one he originally sat in. The chair stood up just a little bit higher.

"Aww…" Kakashi sighed, "This one's got better energy…."

Hiashi slammed his fist down on his desk and snapped Kakashi out of his trance, "Will you please act your age and pay attention, Hatake! I said that you could not let your student learn Juuken taijutsu! It's forbidden!"

'_I'm high… I'm up high, right now… Oh yeah! The meeting! Naruto!_'

Kakashi snapped out of it fully and turned more serious again.

"Sorry, Hiashi-sama… Perhaps I haven't clarified my reasons clearly enough for you. I just want Naruto to training with either your daughter Hinata or your nephew Neji… Naruto is very good friends with both of them and I feel it right to have Naruto-"

"I will not let your student take away my families secrets!" Hiashi thundered.

Kakashi looked down at Hiashi again, "You didn't let me finish. I just want Naruto to practice Juuken for recreational purposes. I don't want him learning another clan's secrets. That's preposterous to ask of you."

Hiashi lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Recreational purposes?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes. I've been trying to teach Naruto a very special type of taijutsu but he's caught in a muscular snag…"

"And that is?" Hiashi asked.

Kakashi lifted his arms, "His muscles aren't loose and relaxed enough to accomplish this feat. It's not like Naruto's body will just adjust to the style over a few days like with a person with Sharingan. Naruto has to practice and mush more easy-going and fluent… Believe me, Juuken was my last option in this scenario. It tried to look for alternatives, Hiashi-sama. Don't get me wrong."

Hiashi contemplated over this for a while before he finally said, "I'm still not sure about this…"

Kakashi then said, "Well, your daughter is very good friends with Naruto. And isn't it true that Hinata's confidence and self-worth have been getting better ever since she has been spending time with him?"

Hiashi nodded, "You make a good point, Kakashi…"

"And wouldn't it be even better for your daughter if she were to start training with my Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Hiashi held his breath and then said, "I still don't know… Even if I would allow this to happen, the Hyuga elders would not approve of it and shut the project down… Not to mention that hey would make special precautions to remove those two from ever interacting with each other again…"

"But-" Kakashi tried to argue peacefully.

"I am sorry, Kakashi. But I still stay no…" Hiashi insisted.

Kakashi paused for a few minutes and said nothing. He looked down at Hiashi desk and spotted something that caught his eye. He saw a photograph among the many photographs of Hiashi's desk. It was one with his sensei Minato standing next to Hiashi both wore baggy teenager clothes and had large smiles on their faces.

Kakashi slowly said with his gaze averted, "Minato would have done it…"

Hiashi twitched suddenly.

Kakashi continued, "If Minato-sensei were here today, he might have allowed it. Being the Hokage he would see to it that I could give my neglected student that training he rightfully deserves. Wouldn't you think? Wouldn't you do this one favor for the sake of your old friend? To help pay the dept that the village remains still to him?"

Hiashi closed his eyes slowly and waited a few minutes before ultimately saying, "Name the time and place, and you've got a deal."

Kakashi grasped Hiashi's hand tightly and shook it.

"Minato smiles down upon you." Kakashi said proudly in a comedic sort of way.

* * *

Naruto woke up the following morning feeling bright and energetic. He had been anticipating to get up this morning for a very special reason. He had been planning for this event for quite some time and couldn't wait any longer for it to happen. He had been making timings and studied patterns for this day and finally the morning of the first of many times had begun.

Naruto quickly got dressed in a red shirt, grey sports jacket, and dirt-brown pants. Naruto then tied his head band around his waist like a belt and grabbed his wand from his dashboard. Naruto magically attached his weapons pouch to his pants and left his apartment.

Naruto turned around and tapped on his doorknob.

"_Colloportus!_"

The door clicked loudly and his let his arms fall to his sides. Naruto concentrated carefully and then Disapparated to the place he had been planning to go to in a loud crack.

* * *

At the hospital, Sakura was carry a great number of heavy books to give to Lady Tsunade. She was strictly ordered to go to her parents library and pick up the large order of books the female Sannin requested weeks ago. Her patience was growing very short with the Haruno family's progress and them delaying her order wasn't going to stop them from hearing this from Tsunade herself. Personally.

Sakura steadily made her way with the books down the main hallway of the hospital to the upper offices. Tsunade would have a bird if she was late with these books and time was starting to run short.

Just as she had entered the intersection of hallways, where she had humiliated Naruto believe it or not, she was given one hell of a surprise that she did not need today.

Naruto had Apparated directly next to Sakura and yelled right in her face, "GOOD MORNING, SAKURA!"

Sakura shrieked in response and fell backwards by the force of Naruto's magnified voice. She fell right on her butt painfully and all of the books that she had in her arms had flown up in the air, only to fall painfully all over her. One particularly large copy of _One Thousand Medical Herbs and Fungi_ crowned her head like an over-sized hat.

Sakura shot her head up towards Naruto laughing at her and gave him a look so hideously mean that it would have made a child scream in terror.

"Hahahahahaha! My plan worked perfectly! Apparation Surprise! Priceless! A pure classic!"

"NARUTO! YOU ARE SUCH A JERK!" Sakura screeched loudly.

Naruto leaned down towards her and said sweetly, "Will you relax already, Haruno… Just trying to defuse the ten-sion!"

Sakura made an attempt to punch Naruto in the face, but Naruto had Apparated away too quickly for her to try. Sakura still got up and let the books that piled on top of her fall to the ground ad collect dirt, dust, and highly potent diuretics. She stood away from her books and started random swiping at the air in the hopes that Naruto would Apparate back to foolishly mock her once more.

"COME BACK AND FACE ME YOU COWARD! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"

Sakura continued to punch and scratch at the air like a mad woman while the patients that heard all of the commotion looked outside their rooms and stared at her. They all stared at her with eyes so uncomfortable they could make you shiver with unease.

"HARUNO!" yelled the voice of a frustrated Tsunade.

The woman came storming down the hall in his lab coat over her usual attire with a terrifying pair of golden eyes. Sakura immediately stopped to face her somewhat-sensei and lose whatever posture she had before Naruto came storming in.

"I expected those books to be on my desk for weeks now. What excuse do you have now to explain why they are still not in my office?"

Sakura raised her head up and said, "It was that baka Naruto's fault! He popped in here with that weird spell of his just to make me drop my books! He used his magic to make me trip and dirty your books, ma'am! It's all his fault, that freak!"

Tsunade glared down at Sakura with utter disdain.

"Never call my nephew a freak… or so help me, you will get kicked out of this program faster than you can say what… Do you understand Miss Haruno?"

Sakura felt she was about to pee herself at any moment. She quickly nodded her head and apologized for her disrespect.

Tsunade then smiled lightly, "Good." she said in a voice far too sweet for her nature, "Now take these books up to my office, dust them off and spray them with a disinfectant and go to your lesson…"

Tsunade turned away and went back to checking on her round of patients for the morning. Once Tsunade had disappeared behind a corner, Sakura growled loudly as she aggressively picked up all of her heavy books.

"I swear I'll see to it that that freak gets his magic banned!"

* * *

Naruto Apparated back to Training Ground Three and went right to work with a few daily morning spells to practice. Naruto pulled out his wand and ran down to the wooden posts apart from the ones where he officially became a genin. But as he ran past it, he threw a Stinging Hex right at the head of the post that Sakura sat next to.

Naruto quickly approached the next few wooden posts and threw a barrage of spells at it for practice.

"_Impedimenta!_"

Naruto's wand shot out a large number of scarlet jets of light that directly hit the surface of the post. He then dove down and rolled his body forward as if he had dodged an enemies attack. Once he recovered he threw his arm back at the post and used another spell.

"_Stupefy!_"

Naruto unleashed a jet of light from his wand that left a noticeable dent in the wood. Naruto smirked at his aim and secretly hoped that Kakashi was hiding in the trees and watching him display his spectacular ability with a wand.

Naruto made another rolling dodge and threw another jinx.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Naruto aimed the jet of red light to shot out from his wand and knock off a chunk of the top part of the post he hit.

Naruto turned his attention away from the posts and ran towards the woods to look for more targets. He ran through the trees and bushed and fired whatever spell he could think of and put it to good use against a worthy target.

Naruto hit a number of branches with Expelliarmus or hit a few moving leaves and miss with Stupefy. It wasn't until Naruto ran into a clearing and found a number of humid targets made of straw.

"_Expulso!_" Naruto cried.

Naruto caused a number of different target marks of the dummies to suddenly explode with the force of a firecracker.

Naruto didn't stop there with the still-intact target. Naruto hit the target again with Expulso until there remain but a small piece of plastic. Once he was sure that he had only that one piece left to finish, he use one more spell.

"_Incendio!_" he shouted.

The remaining piece of target the burst into a large column of flames that rose up two feet. The spell burned the leaves around the target and soon went out into tiny embers among the hundreds of leaves that were left.

Naruto removed himself from the destroyed target and went on to target a few more dummies that were left. Naruto cast flames at the straw dummies and destroyed two of them. He then went on to use a Reductor curse on the trunk of a tree across from him. He then let himself relax as he gained some distance across from the tree in the center and held his wand at the ready.

'_I'm gonna practice the Patronus Charm this time, Harry…_'

Harry nodded, '_**As you wish… It's a good thing that we now know that it can repel anybody how is inflicted with a curse mark…**_'

Naruto smiled and laughed when he remembered the terrified look on Sasuke's face when he unleashed his Patronus at the Valley of the End.

Naruto though back and went over the happiest things he could remember. He thought to everytime he and Hinata were talking and when Kakashi and he settled their arguments after months of refusing to do so. He also imagined what Danzo would look like if he was being killed by a nameless young man with a red chain for a weapon and wearing a set of yellow and blue armor. Another one of Naruto's numerous fantasies.

(A/N: Lol! I hope you get the reference, LeafRanger! Lol! )

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

And out from Naruto's wand tip came a huge burst of silver light. And out of that huge surge of spell-energy came out a majestic creature that reflected Naruto's inner self.

It was a silver lion.

A gigantic lion that stood up three feet high and had an almost full mane of adult fur. The beast ran out from Naruto's wand and padded it's paws noiselessly on the ground. Not even disturbing the leaves, some of which he left burnt earlier. The beast looked towards it's master and steadily walked towards him. Soon the lion was up to Naruto face to face. The teen slowly reached out a hand and felt the beasts silvery hair. Feeling only the unbelievably sensational warmth that flowed to create it's form.

Naruto waved his hand through his patronus until it started deteriorating into wisps of silvery-blue mist.

"What the hell is that?" called out a voice.

Naruto yelped in fright and his patronus disappeared into nothing.

Naruto quickly turned around and saw Kakashi walking towards him. He had been watching Naruto since the moment he arrived and started throwing spells left and right.

Kakashi (although you couldn't see it) had dropped his jaw at what he watched Naruto create.

"What was that, Naruto?" he asked in a breath.

Naruto smiled as held his wand with both hands, "It was my patronus!"

Kakashi scratched his head in confusion and asked, "A what?"

Naruto smiled and remembered that Kakashi had little to no knowledge about the once wizarding world.

"I used the Patronus Charm. That conjures up a patronus. It's sort of like a positive shield that protects me from anything that tries to kill me. It takes the form of an animal to reflect that which I am most like. Although it doesn't work on normal people at all. It only works on creatures like d-dementors, lethifolds, or people impregnated with curse-marks."

Kakashi thought back to Sasuke's trial and remembered him rambling about seeing a silver fox attack him.

Kakashi looked confused, "But Sasuke said a few months ago that it was a fox that attacked him… Why is your…thingy different now?"

Naruto shrugged, "I have no idea… I could say that it was because I had used a huge amount of the Kyuubi's chakra. It might have influenced my patronus at the time. But I would like to think that Sasuke was just making it up to get me in more trouble."

Kakashi looked down in slight shame, "I should have had him silenced…"

Naruto shook his head and approached his teacher, "Don't worry about it. It was my fault I was so reckless… Besides, it doesn't matter anymore to me… Now I don't have to hide myself anymore…!"

Kakashi sighed as he pulled out his Icha-Icha Paradise, "Well, if you say so…"

Naruto soon put his wand away and faced the posts, "What are we doing today, sensei? Are we gonna continue with using a staff or are we going to work on more Ba Gua?"

Naruto kicked the air in enthusiasm and struck a striking pose. Kakashi shook his head and closed his eye.

"Not today, Naruto. We're going to do something different today…" he said.

Naruto stood up straight and asked, "Well, what is it?"

Kakashi then told him, "Your still having a lot of trouble with your progress in taijutsu. Your muscles are too tensed up and you have to get them to relax. So in order for your body to adjust to the conditions require of the next level of exercises, I'm going to have you train in another style of taijutsu. At least for a while."

Naruto looked at him with interest, eager to learn.

"What are you going to have me train me in, sensei?" he asked.

Kakashi opened his eye and closed his book shut, "I'm not going to teach you. Hinata Hyuga will.

Naruto's face suddenly lit up with slight color and he smiled brightly, "I'm gonna go train with Hinata-chan!"

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Yep! I'm going to have you go to her home today in one hour."

Naruto looked very excited to see his good friend again. The two of them were still thinking up of ways to try and beat each other in contests. Every since Hinata beat him getting to the ocean a few weeks ago. Naruto would challenge her to a target-hitting contest.

Kakashi smiled, "You'll get to see her in an hour. For the time being, lets work on using staffs."

Naruto shook his head and got himself ready once Kakashi tossed him a stored pole.

* * *

At the Hyuga clan complex, Hinata had woken up bright and early with a bright smile on her face. She had never looked more forward to starting up a day more than she did now. Today would be the day she and Naruto would start training together.

When she first heard this from her father, she couldn't believe her ears.

Ever since she had graduated from the Academy, she dreamed of being on the same team as Naruto. That has actually happened in the past few weeks but she never thought she would get the golden opportunity and actually get to train with him.

Sasuke betraying the village was probably the best thing that could ever happen to Naruto and Hinata. Though the events did have some severe and heartbreaking consequences for a number of people. But one of those hearts was mended and recovering.

Hinata skipped out from her bedroom, fully dressed and ready to train with her friend. Just as she was waltzing down the hallway, she ran into her younger sister, Hanabi. She lifted her up into the air unexpectedly and spun around in joy.

"Such a marvelous day today, isn't it Hanabi! Heh!" Hinata sang as she soon let her sister down and continued to waltz to the training complex.

Hanabi stared at her older sister until she disappeared down the hall. Hanabi scratched her head with one finger and pondered to herself.

"Nee-chan didn't stutter… Not once…" she said to herself quietly, "I wish _I_ had a wizard to hang out with too…"

Hanabi then turned around and to do her own derring-do for today.

* * *

With ten minutes remaining until they were due to arrive at the Hyuga complex on time, Naruto and Kakashi were only just now finishing up.

Naruto looked at his watch when they both stopped to take a break.

"Kaka-sensei, it's ten-til!" he informed.

Kakashi's eye widened, "Oh fiddlesticks! We gotta go! Hiashi will cancel the appointment if we're late!"

Kakashi dropped his staff on the ground and beckoned Naruto to hurry up. But Naruto soon stopped him once they were close to the Hero's memorial.

"Sensei, wait! I have a faster way!" Naruto called over.

Kakashi stopped to look at Naruto and ask him what he meant. But Naruto had tightly grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Hold on tightly!" Naruto said clearly.

Before Kakashi knew what happened next, he felt Naruto jerk his arm way from him and pull him into an experience unlike anything he felt before in his life. He felt the world sudden go black, he felt he was being pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breath, there were iron bands tightening around his chest, his eyeballs were forced back into his head and his eardrums were being pushed deeper and deeper into his skull. He felt his entire body (as well his environment) suddenly being twisted and looped in so many unnatural ways that he couldn't tell whether he was being bent in any of the wrong directions.

And then- Kakashi felt his feet get slammed into solid ground and took in huge lungful of fresh air. The bands that constricted him were suddenly lifted and he felt his body return to normal. Kakashi soon fell to his knees and unveil his mask to vomit onto the street.

Naruto tried to look around to see his sensei's face but Kakashi wouldn't allow it. He soon stood up and pulled his mask back up to his face too fast for Naruto to see his real face in time.

Kakashi soon grabbed Naruto by his shirt and yelled at him, "What the hell was that?"

Naruto held his hands up to his face protectively, "You just Apparated for the first time… Well, Side-Along Apparation actually…"

Kakashi slowly let go and held onto his stomach, having trouble trying to keep his balance.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" he moaned.

Naruto looked at him off-handedly, "You should really check to see if you have all of your fingernails… I hope you haven't splinched…"

Kakashi looked at Naruto and then darted his sight on his hands.

"What the hell does splinch mean?" he asked quickly.

Naruto explained, "It's what happens if you don't Apparate correctly. Basically it's like leaving a part of your body behind. Trust me, the first time I splinched wasn't pretty…"

Kakashi shook his head and insisted, "I don't want to know this time, Naruto. You better get to the doors of the Hyuga complex, I'll meet you there…"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Uhhh, sensei, we're already here…"

Kakashi turned his head and to his amazement, they were both right outside of the main doors to the house. Kakashi stood up slowly, feeling the nausea start to leave his body bit by bit. Kakashi quickly looked around and to his relief, no one was around to have seen him throw up right there on the street.

He soon swallowed whatever foulness he still had left over and walk beside Naruto as they both entered the complex.

Upon their first step into the walls of the ancient home, Kakashi and Naruto were instantly surrounded by members of the Hyuga clan. Coming out from nowhere as if they had Apparated like they did.

Naruto quickly held his hands up high in surrender.

"It was his idea!" Naruto answered quickly.

Kakashi sighed tiredly and said, "Put you hands down, Naruto…"

Naruto steadily obeyed and lowered his hands again. Though that didn't stop him from feeling downright scared at the looks of ten fully grown men ready to kill him in a second. What made him feel the most uncomfortable was the fact that they all had their Byakugan activated and glared at him as if the crowd were to have a thousand pair of eyes.

Soon, Hiashi came scrolling out from the large oak front doors of his house and dismissed the clan members with a single thought. The Hyuga clan members (whether they were of the main or branch house) all feel out from their stances and lowered their weapons and turned around to leave.

Naruto let go a breath that he held up for awhile and stood up straight as Hiashi approached. Kakashi bowed slightly in respect and Naruto quickly followed his example. Hiashi nodded and looked over at the two of them. Particularly Naruto.

"Good to see that you have arrived on time, Kakashi. You may go now. You may come back here in several hours to pick him up." he addressed.

Naruto looked up at his sensei, "You're not staying, sensei?"

Kakashi sighed and said, "I have other matters to handle right now, Naruto. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want me embarrassing you in front of the girl now, would you?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "No, I'm not embarrassed. I just-"

Kakashi rolled his eye and laughed, "Give it time, Naruto. And you'll be saying that almost all the time…"

Kakashi held his hand up in farewell and turned to leave.

"I'll pick you up later, Naruto. Have fun!"

Kakashi then shushined away and left his student to the care of Hiashi Hyuga. Naruto looked up at Hiashi and he looked down at him stoically. Hoping to break the tension, Naruto smiled at him brightly with his teeth bared.

Hiashi remained as still as a statue and Naruto went back to frowning. Hiashi then smiled lightly and motioned for Naruto to follow him.

'_**Well, he certainly does know how to use his on and off switch, doesn't he?**_' Harry commented.

Naruto ignored him and walked along side Hiashi to the house. Naruto thought Hiashi would say nothing until the approached the house closer. When they entered, the main hall was fairly tall and looked as grand as any other clan complex. Though it was slightly smaller than the Uchiha manor.

"It take it that you are aware that what you will be learning is considered blasphemes in the yes of my entire family?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good. Because I don't want you to be going around and telling anyone about this."

Naruto answered, "I promise to not tell anybody, Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi looked down at him, "You better, Naruto-san… Because if the Hyuga elders were to learn of this arrangement with you learning from my daughter, you will be forbidden to see my Hinata ever again."

Naruto turned his head in surprise, "What? B-but you can't stop two people from being friends it's just not-"

"I never said that I would not want you to spend time with Hinata. I am just informing you of what the elders will attempt to do if they find out of this…"

"Oh…" Naruto answered dumbly.

Hiashi motioned Naruto forward and to the grand living room of the head house. There the room was decked out with magnificent furniture and soothingly soft carpeting. Naruto quickly removed his shoes and placed them against the wall.

Hiashi allowed Naruto to sit down on the sofa and wait for Hinata to arrive.

"You two will be training in the private dojo. I will have to distract all of the members of the clan until you have spent your days' training."

Naruto nodded his head again and Hiashi turned to leave the living room.

"I must ask that you do not perform any of your spells in the house while you are here. Hinata will be with you shortly, Naruto."

Hiashi then walked away and Naruto finally relaxed and let his body melt on the sofa. Being in Hiashi Hyuga's presence left him practically spineless. Never in Naruto's short life had he ever met a man as strict as him. Nor had he ever met a person that made him feel so uncomfortable.

Naruto tried to busy himself without having to pull out his wand and practice charms. Instead he just kicked at his own sock-covered feet in amusement. Naruto then had to wait no more than three minutes before he heard the voice he had been waiting to hear.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto got off from the couch and turned around to see one of his best friends beaming at him just as much as he was at her. Naruto jumped over the couch and ran up to embrace each other.

Their embrace ended very quickly and they soon left to go to the dojo at the opposite end of the complex. While they paced down the halls, the two of them spent a little time catching up on the details of their training. Both were very enthusiastic about and couldn't wait to start.

While they made their way to the private dojo, Naruto let his eyes wander over the many paintings, murals and sculptures that were decorated down each hallway.

"So, you grew up here, eh?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded, "Yep! The paintings on the walls were all done by my mother before she passed away. My father had them laminated and hung up in her honor. The sculptures are just some worthless relics that my grandparents wanted to have put up."

Naruto looked closer at one of the statue and saw that one of them was just a bunch of kunai melted together in a mess of metal.

"But this one is just a bunch of knives melted by a fire jutsu. That's not art, that's just being lazy."

Hinata looked at Naruto off-handedly, "I know. I wish I didn't have to put up with them…"

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Everyone has an antagonist…" he sighed.

* * *

Hinata motioned Naruto to enter the private dojo and Naruto was taken by surprise by how it looked. He gasped as he saw that the room had no roof. Wait. No. It was a glass ceiling. The ceiling was designed so that the people who trained here would get the properly lighting from outside without having to actually train outside.

The walls were made out of a specially designed wood that could prevent the material from being damaged by physical or weapon-related attacks or missed targets. And were colored brown and white, creating a very simple but eloquent design to the room.

Hinata led Naruto into the center of the room and had him stand right across from herself. He stood straight up and paid attention to Hinata as if she were a teacher. Hinata turned just a little bit more serious.

"The key to accomplishing Juuken is to let your body become more loose and flexible. So let us start out with a few exercises that will help you become accustom to it."

Hinata presented Naruto a stance for him to take up. She had him bend his knees a little.

"Now, try to kept your knees bent without keeping the muscles in your legs tight. Keep them nice and loose."

Naruto did as she told him and let his legs go loose. As predicted, Naruto let his legs slip too far and caused him to fall on his butt.

"Oww… Let m try that again…"

It took Naruto another ten tries before he could keep his legs bent without keeping his leg muscles tightened.

Hinata smiled, "Now keep you dominate arm out in front of you. While keeping your other hand at your side, keeping it level with your dominate hand."

Naruto did just as he was told.

"Now let your arms go loose like your legs. But keep them up without tensing your arm muscles too much."

This proved easier for Naruto, but it still took him some time. Seeing as he was used to keep his body tense and tightened to accomplish any fight.

"Good… Now let your chakra flow through your body and focus it to flow into one arm then the other… Like a wave of water…" she said gently.

Naruto closed his eyes and did as Hinata instructed. He let his chakra flow into his right arm and flow all the way to his fingertips. Then he gently focused it to flow back and flow into his left arm.

Hinata suddenly stopped him after she activated her Byakugan.

"Hold on! I forgot to tell you something. You have to focus your chakra to flow through from you dominate arm and back into the stomach. After that, you must concentrate it to flow back out through the other arm.

Naruto readjusted his posture and asked as he moved forward and backward to let his chakra flow again, "Why the stomach, Hinata-sensei?"

Hinata blushed red at being called that by Naruto and explained, "B-because the stomach is the center where all chakra is regenerated. It's like a pool of energy that constantly recycles chakra and allows it to flow in and throughout the body."

Naruto took in the message as soon as he ran it again through his head a few times.

"I see… A pool of chakra… Got it!" Naruto replied.

Hinata smiled, "Now the next step-"

"HINATA-SAMA! What are you doing?" yelled the voice of a furious man.

Naruto dropped to the ground in surprise and turned his head quickly to see the source of the voice. It was a young man just about as old as Iruka. He was a member of the Hyuga clan, obviously, only he had a small nose, dark, straight hair, and wore a typical chunin uniform.

He looked very mad and disgusted to see Naruto there on the floor, trying to pick himself up and dust off his clothes.

"Ko!" Hinata cried in surprise, "Hello, it's good to see you!"

Hinata tried to make herself seem more pleasantly surprised. But had difficulty, seeing as no other Hyuga clan member should have seen Hinata teaching Naruto their clan's taijutsu techniques. They thought for sure that Hiashi would have made every precaution necessary to ensure their privacy.

Ko approached Hinata with absolute fury and demanded answers from her, "Were you teaching this foul boy the ways of our family's secret style of combat?"

Hinata turned very nervous and frightened by Ko's unexpected aggressive behavior. He had never yelled at her like this before. Not ever in her entire life. She was used to him being so very nice and kind to her all the time, ever since she was a little girl. Ko always deeply cared for Hinata's happiness and well-being.

She still answered him and tried to explain her reasons for teaching Naruto, "Y-yes, but I swear, he is only practicing with me fo-"

Ko threw aside Hinata's side of the story, "Teaching a non-member of the Hyuga Clan is forbidden! It's even more frowned upon when you are teaching a person _like him_! Some wizard-freak!"

Hinata turned fearful, "Ko, that's an awful thing to say! I swear I was only trying to help him rela-"

Hinata was suddenly slapped hard across the face and fell to the ground three feet away from where she stood. The older Hyuga clearly put a lot of chakra into his palm to have thrown Hinata that far.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried as he ran toward her to see if she was okay.

He lifted her up from the ground and still held on to her tightly. Naruto looked at the older Hyuga member and glared at him hatefully. But then stopped when he heard Hinata choke on some air.

Naruto turned to Ko and said, "Please, it wasn't her fault! I asked her to teach me to relax! She wasn't teaching me real Juuken! Just exercises similar to it!"

Ko glared at Naruto hatefully, "You are a liar!"

Ko's face turned rigid and he suddenly activated his Byakugan and aimed toward Naruto.

"Stop it! Please stop! You've just hurt Hinata for no reason!"

"Unhand the girl, you demon… Or so help me, I will kill you where you are without a second thought…" Ko threatened with a low and menacing voice.

Hinata turned her head up and yelled to Ko desperately, "Ko! Stop it! He's my friend!"

Naruto looked worried as Ko got closer to the two of them. Naruto and Hinata gasped loudly when Ko drew out a kunai and threatened to kill Naruto.

"If you will not leave, I will force you to!" Ko yelled.

Naruto quickly drew out his wand and yelled, "_Expelliarmus!_"

Ko's kunai shot out from his hand and flew all the way to the wall and drove itself into the center of one of the patterns like a dart on a dartboard. Ko shot his head to where his weapon was taken and looked back at Naruto more fearfully.

Naruto quickly replaced his wand to show that he did not want to use violence.

"Stop it, Ko! Just stop it!" Hinata begged.

"KO! THAT IS ENOUGH!" roared the loud booming voice of Hiashi right behind him.

Ko stopped himself from attacking on command of his family's leader. He turned around quickly and became frightened by the sight of Hiashi.

"H-Hiashi-sama!" Ko quickly and bowed down low to Hiashi and started sweating a lot.

Hiashi entered the dojo with a contempt look on his face. He glared at Ko angrily and demanded an explanation for his actions and words.

"I caught Hinata-sama teaching this outsider our clan's secret taijutsu. They both claim that it is to help this boy relax or something. I think it's a trick to steal our-"

"You idiot!" Hiashi snapped, "Hinata-chan and Naruto-san are telling the truth, Ko! I personally allowed it practice session!" Hiashi snapped.

Ko flinched, "S-sir, I-"

"You harmed my daughter unjustly and you tried to assault a guest of out home! I never would have imagined such behavior out of you, Ko!" Hiashi scolded.

Ko flinched once more and lowered his head in shame, "Forgive me, Hiashi-sama…"

Hiashi growled, "Naruto Uzumaki here is the very reason why I've considered placing my daughter back on the title of heiress to the clan. It was Hinata's friendship with him that gave her the drive I've been waiting to come out of her!"

Ko's eyes grew wide and confused at hearing this.

"I would expect you to show nothing but the highest respect for the boy that has befriended my daughter. Especially the next time you ever see him in our house. You should feel grateful to be in his very presence! He is the wizard of Konoha!"

Ko flinched once again, "Forgive me again, Hiashi-sama!"

Hiashi shook his head, "Go to my office right this instant. Talk to no one else you see… I will have to discuss this matter further to you in a moment in private."

Ko quickly obeyed him, but stopped to apologize to Hinata before retreating quickly to Hiashi's office. Hiashi then faced the two nervous and worried teens with a more relaxed look on his face. Hiashi sighed and placed his hand over top his head.

"Forgive me, Hinata-chan…" he said.

Hinata looked surprised, "W-what?"

Hiashi closed his eyes regretfully, "I should not have been so foolish in assigning you two to practice here… I should have chosen a more discrete location… Please forgive my own foolishness…"

Naruto raised his eyebrows high and said quietly, "It's cool, mate."

Hinata also shared the same reaction, "It's fine, otou-san…"

Hiashi then motioned for them to leave the dojo.

"For the time being, it would e best to do something else in your spare time. Perhaps to take a break from training. Hinata, you have been pushing yourself a bit too far recently…"

Hinata nodded and left the dojo with Naruto following close behind her. As Naruto and Hinata made their way down the hall Naruto hung his head low and quietly said, "I should have used Polyjuice potion…"

* * *

_Harry and Ginny by Alexandre Desplat_

For the next few hours, Naruto and Hinata sat down in the living room and studied more on their shinobi arts. Hinata offered to give Naruto a few auditory points on Juuken taijutsu, but he refused everytime. Naruto offered to use the Episkey healing spell on her bruised cheek, but she refused everytime and said it was fine.

It didn't take Naruto very long to feel overrun by guilt and finally break the ice.

Naruto threw down his tiny homemade handbook on Charms and looked over at Hinata.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan… I should have know better than to think that this training would be okay…I never would have agreed to this if I knew this would happen…"

Hinata put down her own book and insisted gently, "No… It's okay, Naruto-kun…"

Naruto refused to let this whole thing slip, "No it's not… I can tell that you know Ko very well… How you l-looked when he hit you a-and how you talked to him… You must be furious at me…"

Hinata insisted that her friend's speculations were wrong, "No… This was one of those times… that… Well, I'm not sure… I've never been hit by anyone from my family before… Unless you count sparring lessons at age six…"

Naruto tried to have her continue by asking, "So… this would be the first time that had happened?"

Hinata nodded, "Technically yes…"

Naruto understood and relaxed in his chair again. Hinata continued to look at Naruto until she popped the question Naruto feared that she would ask.

"Why do they hate you like this, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto darkened his eyes and kept quiet for a few minutes.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Hinata-chan… But when the time comes, I promise that I'll tell you why… and in full detail… But now is not the time to tell it…"

Hinata sighed disappointingly, "I'll wait for that day to come then, Naruto…"

The pair did not speak again for the entire day and kept to their studies until Kakashi picked up Naruto as he promised he would.

As Naruto left the Hyuga complex he looked back to Hinata's bedroom window as she watched him leave and longed to talk to her about the truth of his past.

'_God… I feel like a real jerk…_' Naruto thought to himself critically.

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

**As before; Reviews are desperately wanted and appreciated!**


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